The United States government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided four oxygen plants which can treat more than 180 severe and critical Covid-19 patients at a time to the Ghana Infectious Disease Center (GIDC).
In addition to the oxygen plant at the Ghana Infectious Disease Center (GIDC), an oxygen plant has already been delivered to Cape-Coast Municipal hospital and two additional plants will be delivered to Kumasi South Hospital and Tamale West hospital.
USAID will also donate 28 high-flow, high-pressure oxygen concentrators to provide life-saving oxygen at healthcare facilities across all 16 regions in the country. Each specialized concentrator can provide oxygen for three severely ill patients at a time. The package of oxygen support includes not only equipment, but also supplies of oxygen cylinders and pulse oximeters and training for health staff and engineers to be able to properly use and maintain the equipment.
The US ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sullivan at the handing over of the equipment said “since the start of the pandemic, the U.S. government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has provided over 30 million dollars to support Ghana’s Covid-19 response. This support addresses the immediate and medium-term effects of Covid-19 on the health, agriculture, and education sectors, and the hard-hit private sector”.
Ambassador Sullivan also added that there will be a donation of a negative pressure isolation system to Ridge Hospital from the US Department of Defense’s Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid program. The 1.5 million isolation system will provide critical care support for Covid-19 patients, by isolating infectious patients to provide them safe care that prevents the spread of Covid-19 in a climate-controlled isolation area.
These equipment donations follow the United States’ earlier donation of over 1.2 million Moderna vaccines to Ghana on September 4, 2021, the largest vaccine Ghana has received till date.
The Director of the Ghana Infectious Disease Center (GIDC), Dr. Joseph Oliver-Commey said “the Center is a 100-bed capacity facility but currently operating 30-bed due to some constraints, one of which is unavailability of enough oxygen”.
“For this facility to function fully, we need on average about 2,000 per minute flow of oxygen”. Dr Oliver-Commey added
The GIDC which started operation on January 12, 2021 has recorded 704 Covid-19 cases, 207 being severely and critical cases with 39 lives lost.
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