The donation is the third in nature to a hospital by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer to fight COVID-19.
A senior lecturer at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr Vida Nyagre Yakong, led a contingent of NDC regional and constituency executives in handing over the PPE to the regional hospital on behalf of Mahama.
“The former President is reaching out to all facilities around the country to support them with items that will help them do their work. He extends his profound gratitude to all health workers across the country for the good work they have been doing", she said.
"We are aware of the challenges that they do have; most of it dwells on the lack of PPE. If they (health workers) have nothing to protect themselves, I don’t see how they are going to fight the battle. We are not waiting for health service providers to go on strike because they have nothing to work with before we respond to their cry; and, so, today is a response to that."
“As a technical team, we are happy that the recommendations that we have provided to government, they are implementing them. And one key example is the recent announcement by the President that they are providing incentives, motivation, for healthcare providers, ” said Dr Yakong, who is also a member of a nonpartisan COVID-19 technical team established by Mahama to support the Akufo-Addo-led government with technical ideas to effectively deal with the spread of the disease.
The delegation also registered an observation that healthcare workers lacked PPE in many places and, with deep concerns, urged government to provide them with protective kit without further delay.
“We are also as a technical team encouraging government to speed up with the distribution of PPE across the country. We have heard everywhere, every corner, that [health] providers are crying for PPE. The Ghana Medical Association has also made it clear that, ‘Yes, thank you for the incentives, but what we need most is the PPE. We have to be alive to enjoy these incentives.’