The Ministry of Health has denied misusing funds from the World Diabetes Foundation meant to assist to diabetic patients in the country.
This followed after reports emerged that an amount of 40 million meant for a major intervention in the treatment and management of diabetes in Ghana has been misappropriated.
[contextly_sidebar id=”mOlgmUXMmkVuksEfex7ZJNtSPYUXRExv”]In an interview aired on the Citi Breakfast Show, the Deputy Sector Minister, Victor Bampoe denied such claims, insisting that Ghana or any Ghanaian organization has not received such an amount from the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF).
“No 40 million US dollars has been given to Ghana or to any Ghanaian organization,” he reiterated.
He revealed that the funding was from the World Diabetes Foundation, which was founded in Denmark in 2002.
“It (the funding) is supposed to be helping the 350 million-500 million diabetics in the world and Ghana’s diabetics are estimated at 4% which is over one million,” he revealed.
A report released by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) revealed that 450,000 Ghanaians were living with diabetes as at the end of 2014.
The report indicated that, 330,000 of the figure, representing 75 per cent of the cases, remained undiagnosed, posing an increased danger of complications for people unaware they are living with diabetes.
It also estimated that the number was likely to reach 820,000 by the year 2035, due to the ageing and expanding population, with diabetes accounting for 8.6 per cent of deaths in adults.
By: Selassie A. Amissah Mensah /citifmonline.com/Ghana