Accra, April 30, GNA – World Vision Ghana (WVG) has announced a two million dollar response plan towards the eradication of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on health systems, child protection, food security and education in Ghana.
The key objectives of World Vision Ghana’s response plan include scaling up preventive measures to stop the spread of the disease, supporting health systems and health workers, and providing multi-sector support to children and families during the COVID-19 crisis in their operational areas.
Mrs Efua Ghartey, the Board Chairperson of World Vision Ghana made the announcement when she led a delegation to presents Personal Protective Equipment worth $10,000 to support the isolation and quarantine centres of the Ministry of Health in Accra.
She said WVG was concerned about the impact that the COVID-19 health crisis would have on the poorest and most vulnerable children, and the risk it poses to the already overstretched basic social services and pre-existing high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition.
“The number of infected persons continues to rise. There is therefore, the need to intensify and sustain the momentum of our collective efforts to fight this pandemic,” she said.
Mrs Ghartey said the impact on the education and the health systems could not be overemphasized hence the support and pledged the organisation’s support to the Government in the fight against COVI-19 pandemic during and after the pandemic.
She said WVG’s areas of intervention included Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) interventions in the country would continue to be solid leverage for containing the spread of the pandemic.
“We are working with Municipal/District Assemblies and allied agencies to drill more boreholes in order to make water accessible to the hard-to-reach communities in which World Vision operates.
She recalled that a few weeks ago, WVG worked with the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service to print and distribute a total of over 200,000 Information, Education and Communication materials worth over $40,000 to enhance the Government’s risk communications and public education efforts in communities.
Mrs Ghartey said the WVG had also provided about 40,000 Personal Protective Equipment worth over $60,000 comprising of nose masks, coveralls, goggles, gloves, veronica buckets, antibacterial liquid hand wash, large plastic basins and foot-operated plastic waste bins to Ghana Health Service and Christian Health Association of Ghana.
Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, the Minister of Health thanked the Ghana team for the support and call on everyone to abide by the prescribed handwashing and social distancing protocols among others, to prevent a further spread of the virus.
He said after the partial lockdown one of the strategies of the government was to focus on behavior change and as well as ensuring physical distancing to keep the spread at a low rate.
GNA