The Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives Ghana (UPNMG) last Friday donated sanitary items to the Wa Municipal Hospital in the Upper West Region, to help protect the staff at the hospital from the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The items were toiletries, washing powder, hand gloves and Veronica buckets
Handing over the items to the regional administrator, the Deputy Regional Secretary for the UPNMG, Mr Iddrisu Abubakar Bajo, stated that as health staff, they were moved by the inadequate safety equipment at the hospital to donate the items to help protect themselves as well as their colleagues from the CODVID-19.
He indicated that in this time of crisis, it was necessary for every individual and organisations that had the means to mobilise resources and acquire the necessary logistics to support government’s efforts at fighting the CODVID-19.
Receiving the items, the Administrator of the hospital, Mr Samson Abu, said the items would go a long way to enhance the performance of their duties as the hospital did not have adequate supply of those items.
Mr Abu stated that staff at the hospital did not have the recommended safety equipment such as the overall and that had impacted negatively on their work as some of the staff shied away from patients with certain conditions.
Mr Abu stated, however, that he was confident that the government was working assiduously to provide the facility with the equipment and called on other professional bodies as well as benevolent organisations to take a cue from the efforts made by the UPNMG and donate items to assist the health staff fight the CODVID-19 in the region.
For his part, the Medical Director for the facility, Dr Nabil Dekpeh used the occasion to appeal to the National Service Secretariat to reconsider its directive to institutions to allow service personnel proceed on leave, saying some essential departments like the hospitals would need their services immensely.
He asked that personnel with hospitals should be excluded from the directive because their services were needed and if withdrawn would create gaps in this time of crisis.
Touching on the outbreak of meningitis in the region, Dr Dekpeh advised residents to report to a health centre if they had symptoms of fever, headache as well as neck pain so that they could be tested and treated on time.
“Currently there are 10 children on admission at this facility who have been diagnosed of meningitis and it has become an issue this year so whilst we do our best as healthcare providers, residents should also ensure good personal hygiene, limit body contacts and practice regular hand washing,” he added.
Hospital Administrator (left) taking delivery of items with the elbow to elbow corona greeting.
FRO LYDIA DARINGTON FORDJOUR, WA
