A World Health Organization (WHO) research mission is in Ghana, working with government and health sector stakeholders to strengthen the country’s health security to effectively respond to emerging diseases. .
A joint team from the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO) and the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (AfCDC) is working to identify areas where additional capacity and capacity can be built to fill existing gaps in Ghana’s health system. want to be.
The three-day activities are expected to contribute to building resilience in the health sector to better protect the public from the effects of public health emergencies.
Dr. Francis Kasolo, WHO Country Representative, said in his opening remarks that Ghana was selected for the research mission because of its outstanding response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other outbreaks in the country. said.
He said the team has already identified areas where additional capacities and capabilities can be developed to build strong resilience of the health system to withstand future emergencies.
Dr. Casolo mentioned areas such as disease detection strategies, building a strong human resources workforce, and improving logistics to ensure uninterrupted health service delivery in the event of future pandemics.
“If this is done effectively, Ghana will be able to detect new diseases more quickly and build strong human resources that can respond to outbreaks within 24 hours.
“This will ensure that Ghana has the capacity to develop beyond its current status and assist other countries on the continent in dealing with health emergencies,” he said.
The Director-General (DG) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma Aboazi, said the country has made great strides in responding to various infectious disease outbreaks over the years.
He said the mission was timely as the country was facing non-health hazards such as road accidents and natural disasters such as the ongoing Akosombo dam spill.
The Directorate-General therefore requested the Inquiry Mission to consider the country situation in its proposals to enable effective implementation during emergency response.
Presidential Adviser on COVID-19, Dr Analufi Asamoah-Barr, said the study gave Ghana an opportunity to “think outside the box” in planning and responding to public health emergencies.
“As we move towards the future, we need to plan for the future, but we also need to think outside the box because we know the future is unknown,” he said. said.