The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Friday presented varied medical equipment worth GHC6.5 million to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to support the national effort towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the five Northern regions.
The equipment will help improve access to quality health services and strengthen the network of care within the Primary Health Care System in the Upper West, Upper East, Northern, North-East and Savanna regions.
They include; Pulse oximeters, Glucometres, Haemoglobin meters and their respective strips, BP apparatus, Stethoscope, Weighing and Height scales, Dressing instrument set, Sterilizing drums, Veronica buckets, and Vaccine carriers.
Mr Araki Yasumichi, the Chief Representative of JICA Ghana Office, said the donation followed a request made by the GHS through the “Strengthening community-based health services focusing on the life course approach (CHPS for Life) project in the Northern regions.”
He said the five-year CHPS for Life project, which commenced in June 2017 and is likely to end in June 2022, leveraged the well-established community health systems to promote access to quality health care for all age cohorts.
“It also focuses on building the capacity of health professionals at the CHPS, Health centre and district hospital level to promote a healthy lifestyle, social behaviour change, early detection and prompt referral of high-risk conditions, including Non-Communicable Diseases and other diseases of public health interest,” he said.
Mr Yasumichi acknowledged the strong collaboration between the Ministry of Health (MOH), GHS and JICA, which had led to many impactful interventions such as improving geographical accessibility through the CHPS strategy and addressing maternal and newborn care issues.
He stressed that in line with JICA’s Initiative for Global Health and Medicine, the medical equipment would ensure continuity in the provision of essential health services and strengthen the preparedness for the pandemic, including the COVID -19 pandemic.
The Director-General of GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, who received the medical equipment, thanked JICA for its contribution to strengthening health systems in Ghana.
He said the equipment would be given to over 1,000 functional CHPS zones in 52 selected districts.
Source: GNA
