The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Ghana, on Monday donated 10 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds worth thousands of Ghana Cedis to three hospitals in Accra

The hospitals are Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, 37 Military Hospital and Ghana Police Hospital.

The donation forms part of the German Government's support to the Government of Ghana for reliable treatment of medical staff and critically ill patients who require care because of COVID-19.

It was made after the recommendations of a needs assessment of the hospitals pointed to ICU beds, volumetric pumps and syringe pumps to support the provision of care in an ICU setting and with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ),

In October 2020, the German Government, through GIZ, donated 14 ventilators, patient Monitors, humidifiers and consumables to six hospitals in Accra.

This was facilitated by the COVID-19 Alliance of Ghanaian Hospitals to Secure Medical Staff project under the GIZ implemented development partnerships with the private sector development programme.

Mr. Fred Darko Effah, Technical Advisor at GIZ, who presented the beds at a short ceremony in Accra, said GIZ is committed to supporting Ghana's efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic through its various programmes and partnerships with the private sector.

"Besides the work being done to improve health infrastructure, GIZ, through its development Programmes, is providing healthy nutritious meals to COVID-19 frontline health workers at the Ghana Infectious Disease Center (GIDC), and helping with the development of low-cost ventilators as well as production of hand sanitizer from cassava ethanol," he said.

Dr Ali Samba, Director of Medical Affairs at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, thanked GIZ for their continued support towards Ghana's health infrastructure through the project.

"The pandemic is still ongoing and it is important we keep improving the state of our ICUs for what may come. This donation by GIZ will go a long way in supporting patients who end up in the ICU with respiratory distress and require care," he said.