The latest donation done at the premises of the Peace and Love Hospital, Oduom, Kumasi, in the Ashanti regional capital, according to the Founder and President of BCI, Dr. (Mrs) Beatrice Wiafe Addai, bolsters the enduring relationship with “our U.S. based, not for profit charity, Direct Relief, in our shared mission statement to distribute free life- saving medicines, and other medical consumables, among others, to health care delivery facilities operating in predominantly poor communities in Ghana.”

She explained that “Our partnership is underpinned by proven integrity, honesty, accountability and the sheer desire to reach out to those on the fringes of society.”

Dr. Wiafe Addai urged authorities of recipient institutions not to sell to their patients who would need the drug since they (drugs) were given to them for free.

She pleaded with the government of Ghana to help ease the process of clearing the drugs at the port and scrap the fat import duties on the drugs which are coming in to support its (government’s) effort to ensure quality health delivery in the country.

The first wave of donations, witnessed by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, his Deputy, Elizabeth Agyemang and representatives drawn from the beneficiary community, saw the distribution of infusions, lung cancer drugs, antibiotics, drugs for allergies, anti- hypertensive, anti-diabetes, and depressants to some tertiary hospitals, polyclinics, clinics and chip compounds.

The two associated themselves with calls for a concerted effort to fight off cancers and praised the leadership of BCI for the sustained campaign against the spread of breast cancer and other non- communicable diseases.

Also present at the ceremony was Mr. Tom Roane, Director of Strategic Initiatives of Direct Relief, who thanked BCI and the Ashanti Regional Health Ministry for their collaboration in distributing the Direct Relief donated medical goods to benefit Ghanaian underserved patients.

He mentioned that BCI has been a strong partner of Direct Relief for the past 4 years and has enabled tens of thousands of patients to gain access to specialized medicines to properly treat their medical conditions.

Roane also praised BCI’s Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai and the National Ministry of Health of Ghana for their vision and commitment to tackle non-communicable diseases and pledged Direct Relief’s continued support to help fulfill gaps in access to medicines for the underserved of Ghana, where possible.

Representing the beneficiary institutions, Mr. Paul Obeng, who heads the Pharmacy unit of the Pediatric Oncology of KATH, promised to put same to optimum use, and commended the donor Organization, notably Direct Relief, for remaining consistent to the welfare of the vulnerable and marginalized in society; he also thanked Breast Care International for their concern for the needy in the society.

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Credit: BCI

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Mr. Archibald Adams, Coordinator, Universal Access Healthcare Campaign (UAHCC), a local NGO, said the government  must remove all bottlenecks and ensure efficiency in the operations of the national health insurance scheme (NHIS).

He was speaking at the opening of a day’s capacity-building training workshop held for members of the organization in Kumasi.

The goal was to adequately equip them to lead the effort at getting more people registered for the NHIS.

Mr. Adams said the expectation was that the Akufo-Addo Administration would make good its election campaign promises on health – work hard to break down barriers to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-Three.

He underlined the need to expand health insurance enrolment to assure everybody of access to primary healthcare.

He noted that the present situation where under 50 per cent of the population had registered for the insurance and said the figure necessarily should grow.

It must not be lost on anybody that when the country’s basic healthcare system became strengthened, there would be drastic reduction in the outbreak of communicable diseases and other health problems, he added.

Dr. George Amofah, former Director of Public Health, Ghana Health Service (GHS), urged equitable distribution of resources to the facilities for their smooth running.

He said they should be supplied with the required equipment, kits and consumables to treat the sick and save lives.

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Source: GNA

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