GHC 2.5million is not enough to fight coronavirus – NGO’s in Health

The coalition of NGOs in Health has complained about the GHC 2.5 million Ghana government has committed to the fight against the deadly coronavirus.

According to them, the said amount was not enough to even embark on proper clinical research on a disease.

“The GHC2.5 million cannot even do proper research into a disease of a virus especially a biological one, it is not enough” Executive Director of the NGOs in Health, Dr Gabriel Benarku said in an interview on Starr FM monitored by theghanareport.com.

The government has committed ¢2.5 million to support the activities of the National Coordinating Sectoral Committee leading the implementation of the prevention plan against coronavirus.

Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, speaking on the floor of Parliament, said some 10,000-protection equipment would be imported, while it provided insurance covers for all health practitioners at the frontline in the fight against the virus.

“The government is doing everything possible to prevent and protect against the outbreak. An amount of ¢2.5 million has been allocated as set up a fund towards the implementation of the initial response plan.”

Dr. Benarku is demanding for more commitment from the government, according to him, the government must show that by allocating a substantial amount of money to aid the fight.

“We want to see how the health personnel are oriented to play a critical role. Thankfully, we have the  National Ambulance Service working now.

“The GHC2.5 million cannot even do proper research into a disease of a virus, especially a biological one, it is not enough, but if the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service says it is enough, we leave it that for them”.

He said the country requires about GHC35 million to effectively prepare for a potential outbreak.

A report from the WHO stated that even though the country has capacity in-country to test for COVID-19 disease (Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research) its readiness status is largely moderate.

The WHO has classified Ghana among Priority one countries, in the Africa region for being at risk based on flights and passenger volumes.

So far, Ghana has  tested 41 suspected cases for coronavirus  with all testing negative.