The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS has distributed Personal Protective Equipment, PPEs, test kits and medication to its member countries including Ghana to help combat the outbreak. These include 30,500 diagnostic test kits, 10,000 PPEs including Coveralls, Aprons, gowns, gloves, goggles, and boots.
The donation also included 740 thousand prescription tablets comprising Chloroquine and Azithromycin.
As of April five this year ECOWAS member states affected by the pandemic with 1,739 confirmed cases of contamination, 55 deaths and 328 persons have fully recovered with approximately 95 percent of deaths being patients with underlying conditions.
In this regard, the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), its specialized health Institution responsible for coordinating the response at the regional, level has drawn up a Regional Strategic Plan with all Member States.
ECOWAS has immediately made available financial support from its own resources, in addition to assistance from international partners, for the purchase of medical supplies and equipment essential for the fight against the pandemic.
WAHO is also working, in close collaboration with the specialized services in the Member States, to deploy personnel and epidemiological surveillance and data collection tools, to strengthen the capacity of reference laboratories and train technical personnel.
