The United States government has handed over two health facilities to the 37 Military Hospital to provide continuous training for Ghana Armed Forces Medical Service personnel who are going on mission.
Known as the United Nations Level ll Hospitals, the facilities, located at the hospital, are intended to enable the Ghana Armed Forces to rapidly deploy and operate a UN-standard level ll hospital, should anything threaten the regional stability.
Estimated at $6.5 million, the establishment of the facilities forms part of the medical component of the African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Programme, which is aimed at building the sustainable capabilities and capacity in selected African nations to enable rapid deployment in support of peacekeeping operations or developing crisis.
One of the two facilities is specially set up to provide continuous training for Ghana Armed Forces service personnel preparing to be deployed for any mission.
The other is for immediate deployment of UN missions as and when required.
Share knowledge
The Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, explained that 50 Ghana Armed Forces Medical Service personnel had been trained as trainers of trainees by the US facilitators.
“The shared platform between Ghana Armed Forces and our United States partners provided the Ghana Armed Forces participants the opportunity to tap into the many years of deployment experience, especially in the subject areas of medical and others”, he said.
He urged the trained personnel to be prepared to impart the knowledge they had acquired to their colleagues when needed and thanked the US government for the support.
Commendation
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Stephanie Sullivan, said the Ghana Armed Forces has earned global and international respect for its decades of UN peacekeeping operations, its military professionalism and for upholding democratic values.
She noted that Ghana and the US were close partners in addressing regional and international security issues.
The US and Ghanaian militaries, she added, had cooperated on numerous joint training exercises designed to increase the effectiveness of both countries’ security forces ability to respond to international threats.
Ms Sullivan said through the African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Programme, the US had invested in the capacity of Ghana and five other African countries that had proven themselves leaders in peacekeeping.
“Ghana has successfully demonstrated its commitment and capacity to lead the charge in this field,” she stated.
These facilities, she added, represented the commitment of the US government to Ghanaians and other international peacekeepers on future deployment.
