SEND-GHANA Calls On Gov’t To Set Aside Proportion Of COVID-19 Fund For Future Pandemics

SEND GHANA, a non-profit organisation, has called on the Government to set aside a proportion of the National COVID-19 Trust Fund to cater for future pandemics.

Dr Emmanuel Ayifah, the Deputy Country Director of the organisation who made the call said putting such resources in place was important to cushion the country when the World Bank and Development Partners could not long provide support in future.

Dr Ayifah was speaking at a Dialogue on COVID-19 Monitoring Report organised by the SEND-GHANA.

The report was theme “COVID-19 Awareness and Adherence to, and Effect of Government of Ghana’s COVID-19 Response Measures, Transparency and Accountability Around COVID-19 Inflows and Expenditure”.

The National COVID-19 Trust seek to receive contributions and donations from the public to assist in the welfare of the needy and the vulnerable.

He said the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions had caused people to relax on the protocols and asked that the President champion the move for vaccination to increase uptake of the jab as the fight was not over.

The Deputy Director stated that monitoring said people have stopped taking the vaccine which was causing a lot of wastage hence the need for the President to use his personality to increase vaccine uptake to prevent the country running at a loss.

Dr Ayifah called on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to collaborate with the government to monitor COVID-19 related fund management and programme implementation, undertake extensive social audits on specific policy measures, and their impact on society.

Dr Isaac Nyarko Kwakye, the Programmes Officer SEND-GHANA, speaking on findings of the report noted that greater proportion of expenditure on COVID-19 went into procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the outbreak of the pandemic.

The findings also revealed that handwashing and sanitizer use was complied with by the people as Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies pursued it.

It said 59.9 per cent of respondents indicated that they were aware of one COVID-19 measure or the other in the fight against the pandemic.

About 91 per cent of the people were aware of the COVID-19 Alleviation Programme (CAP) and 97 per cent of them expressed satisfaction with it.

Dr Kwakye noted that despite the gains made in fighting the pandemic people have started relaxing safety measures due to easing of the restrictions.

He called on government to embark on public education and sensitizations on COVID-19 vaccinations, especially in the wake of reports suggesting low vaccine acceptance, although the Ghana Health Service had taken delivery of a lot of vaccines.

He stated that the government should invest in infrastructure for e-health and telehealth to enhance virtual health service delivery in all health facilities in the country especially during pandemics, he stated.

The Programmes Officer appealed to government to prioritise and fast track the data collection/registration of citizens as part of the implementing the Ghana National Household Registry to help create a single national register to improve targeting of the poor and vulnerable.

Source: By GNA -Apr 15, 2022