Mrs Akufo-Addo Addo made the call in a brief solidarity message when she joined other stakeholders virtually to celebrate the 5th anni­versary of the Rebecca Akufo-Ad­do Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in

 Accra on Friday.

The celebration of the anni­versary which was on the theme “Making a difference, one little life at a time”, afforded stakeholders the opportunity to reflect on the five years journey of the PICU and chart the way forward, through speeches and solidarity messages.

The event was interspersed with musical interludes from Korle-Bu choir and a band, and climaxed with the cutting of the anniversary cake amid fanfare.

The First Lady said the Rebeca Akufo-Addo PICU project was in fulfilment of a promise she made following an appeal sometime in 2017, by the Korle-Bu Child Health Department to the Rebecca Foun­dation to help fix the challenging conditions facing the department.

According to Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, it was important to reflect on the state of the country’s health facilities and how its premier hospital would have such challeng­es in taking care of our children, adding that, “Biomedical engineer­ing is pushing the frontiers of med­icine in a way that is incredible.

The Twofohene of the Kwaku Traditional Area, Nana Opoku Mintah II, who was the guest speaker, said the celebration of the Rebecca Akufo-Addo foundation PICU was a milestone in the coun­try’s journey to provide top-notch childcare.

He indicated that the founda­tion’s focus areas included pro­viding financial aid to sick children within the first 48 hours of care, conducting preventive medical outreach programmes, offering continuous training for health pro­fessionals, and conducting research into critical child care.

“The foundation aims to opti­mise the use of National Health Insurance to support critical child care, building on the existing sup­port for four childhood cancers,” he added.

Nana Opoku Mintah II ex­pressed gratitude to the First Lady for her selfless dedication to improving the lives of children in the country.

The acting Head of Unit, Dr Claudia Adja Sai, said that the Rebecca Akufo-Addo PICU had transformed the landscape of paediatric emergency and critical care services in the country, saving over a thousand young lives since its inception.

“In the five years since its first patient, the facility has significant­ly reduced its emergency room mortality rate from nine per cent in 2017 to three per cent in 2023, marking a 66 per cent decrease. This achievement has garnered international recognition, with the team’s data presented at the World Federation of Paediatric Intensive and Critical Care Society Confer­ence in 2023,” she stated.

She appealed to the govern­ment and other non-governmental organisations to support and invest in the unit to help save the lives of children suffering from severe illnesses.