Friday, 11th February, 2022

Page 8
The Minister of Health
Kwaku Agyemang-Manu
says, although 1,426
people have died as
a result of Covid-19,
government’s management of
the pandemic has been a success
story.
The Health Minister says,
although millions of lives were
lost globally due to the pandemic,
the government managed to
Health
contain the situation, making it
one of two countries that better
managed the pandemic.
Giving updates on the
COVID-19 situation, Mr.
Agyemang-Manu indicated that
the country now has an active
case count of 527 cases. Five
people are in critical condition
and 1, 426 persons have so far
succumbed to the virus.
He was speaking at a press
DAILY ANALYST Friday, 11th February, 2022
– Health Minister
conference in Accra on Wednesday,
February 9, 2022.
“We couldn’t stop COVID-19
impacting negatively on the
nation. First of all, government’s
finances did not budget for
COVID-19. We didn’t have any
money as emergency funds to
cater for the pandemic, but there
have been successes.”
The Health Minister further
added that, the country was doing
well in the area of COVID-19
vaccinations, stating that 6,000
vaccination teams have been
deployed across the country to
make sure that this is achieved.
“We will vaccinate as many
as we can within a very short
time. So, we have started with
the vaccine day to make sure
that, people get vaccinated. In
the process, we have set up about
6,000 teams across the country
vaccinating people. So far, Ghana
has received 27.4 million doses
of vaccines and we have administered
11.8 million doses out of
which 8.3 does are one shot.”
The government declared
December 2021 as the month
of vaccinations, amid growing
concerns of vaccine hesitancy
among Ghana’s population.
This has been accompanied
by vaccine mandates like the
directive to all persons to be vaccinated
on arrival at the Kotoka
International Airport before
they can be permitted to enter
the country.
This has coincided with the
emergence of groups kicking
against vaccine mandates, citing
the potential of fatal adverse
reactions.
Korle Bu successfully
conducts cornea
transplants for six patients
'Abandoned ' La General Hospitals
project to commence this year
- Minister assures
The Health Minister,
Kwaku Agyemang
Manu, has given
assurances that the
construction of the La
General Hospital will commence
this year.
The hospital was closed
down in March 2020 to pave
way for its redevelopment due
to the dilapidated nature of the
structures.
Two years on, work at the
project site is yet to see any
significant progress.
But speaking at a media
engagement in Accra, the
Health Minister said the work
had been delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and other
documentation issues in China.
He however said most of the
hurdles have been cleared and
the contractor is currently onsite
to begin work.
“We had cause to pull down
the hospital because it was
cracking and we were scared
that there could be a disaster.
After that, we awarded the
contract, we went through
regulatory processes but we
faced challenges with COVID
and some insurance challenges
in China that stopped us from
working. Now they [contractors]
are back on site and the last time
they were looking for a road that
will help them pull their heavy
equipment to the site.”
Kwaku Agyemang Manu
said the contractor is however
undertaking other projects
in Shama and at the Korle-Bu
Teaching Hospital which are
also ongoing.
Many residents have
complained about the slow pace
of work at the site over a year
after President Akufo-Addo cut
sod for the construction.
The Member of Parliament
for the La Dadekotopon
Constituency, Rita Odoley
Sowah, also recently expressed
disappointment that work had
not begun on the redevelopment
of the La General Hospital since
the old structure was pulled
down.
The project is being financed
by a credit facility from Standard
Chartered Bank of the United
Kingdom, with an export credit
guarantee from Sinosure of the
People’s Republic of China, to
the tune of €68 million with an
insurance cover of €3,860,349.18.
The project will be
undertaken by a Chinese
company, Poly Changda.
Upon completion, it will
be transformed into a 160-bed
facility and will be fitted with
an outpatient department;
inpatient wards; maternity and
neonatal services; surgical unit
with four theatres; accident and
emergency department; public
health department; pharmacy
unit; laboratory; administration;
imaging area, with CT Scan,
X-ray room, ultrasound,
fluoroscopy, mammography
units; physiotherapy unit; and a
mortuary.
The facility, which was
formerly known as the La
Polyclinic, was established in
the early 1960s.
It mainly served residents
of La, Osu, Teshie, Nungua, and
its surrounding areas with their
healthcare needs.
Ghana’s premier
Teaching Hospital,
Korle Bu has
successfully
conducted a cornea
transplant for six patients.
Announcing what has now
become a third successful
session in a series of cornea
transplant surgeries, Korle Bu
said the recent surgery was the
first to be funded by partners of
the teaching hospital.
“The Hospital has
successfully undertaken Cornea
Transplant for Six Patients.
The surgery, which was done in
partnership with the University
of Standford, is the third
procedure to be done in Korle Bu
and the first to be funded by the
Hospital's partners,” a statement
on the Facebook page of Korle Bu
Teaching Hospital said.
The surgery according to the
statement was led by a senior
doctor from the University of
Stanford in the United Kingdom
and a female doctor from Korle
Bu.
“The Hospital is grateful
to Geoffrey Tabin, a Professor
of Ophthalmology and Global
Medicine from the University
of Standford and the team from
Korle Bu Eye Centre, led by Dr.
Gladys Fordjour, for continually
making Korle Bu Teaching
Hospital a leader in advanced
medical care,” the statement by
Korle Bu added.
The cornea is a clear outer
layer at the front of the eyeball
and acts as a window to the eye.
A cornea transplant is a
surgical procedure to remove all
or part of a damaged cornea and
replace it with healthy donor
tissue.
A cornea transplant is often
referred to as keratoplasty or a
corneal graft.
It can be used to improve
sight, relieve pain and treat
severe infection or damage.
One of the most common
reasons for a cornea
transplant is a condition called
keratoconus, which causes the
cornea to change shape.