Mr Jung-Taek Lim (2nd left), the South Korean Ambassador to Ghana, presenting the N-95 face masks to Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye (2nd right), Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS). With them are Ms Anne-Claire Dufay (right), UNICEF Representative in Ghana and Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe (left), Director of Public Health of the GHS. Picture: ESTHER ADJEI

GHS receives face masks from Republic of Korea, UNICEF

Felicia Kwarteng Health Mar - 13 - 2021 , 11:02 2 minutes read

The Republic of Korea, through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has donated 200,000 pieces of N95 face masks to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to help frontline health workers to protect themselves from becoming infected with the COVID-19.

At the handing over ceremony in Accra last Tuesday, the UNICEF Representative in Ghana, Ms Anne -Claire Dufay, commended the government and health workers in the country for their hard work in containing the disease and for protecting the people.

She said the move to donate the face masks stemmed from the long-standing partnership between the Republic of Korea and UNICEF.

Protecting health workers

Ms Dufay said: “These masks are capable of filtering out SARS-Cov-2 particles which are responsible for the COVID-19 disease. The masks are manufactured in South Korea and certified by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in Ghana. The masks will contribute positively towards protecting health workers from the deadly coronavirus disease”.

The Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Jung -Taek Lim, commended the Government of Ghana and the GHS for working hard to contain the COVID-19 in the country.

He said besides Ghana, the Republic of Korea was also donating face masks to five other African countries, namely Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Guinea Bissau.

“The times we are living in at the moment calls for international solidarity and cooperation, which is among the reasons why the Korean Government is extending assistance to Ghana to help it deal with the pandemic.

“On December 22, last year, the Korean Government, in partnership with the WHO, handed over COVID-19 diagnostic kits worth $300,000 to Ghana,” he said.

The Director General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, received the items on behalf of the service and said the fight against COVID-19 was not a one country affair but a global one.

He said the government through the GHS had done a lot to contain the disease in the best way possible and in whatever new strain it presented and expressed his appreciation to the Republic of Korea for the support.

“Reports of COVID-19 in the country, including active cases, is currently on the decline. Per our records and as of last Monday, about 300,000 of our citizens had been vaccinated. It is our hope that this will be a game changer in our fight against the disease,” he said.