First Lady of the Republic, H. E. Mrs Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo, has described the partnership between The Rebecca Foundation and state agencies like the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) as one which has been immensely beneficial to Ghanaians, especially women and children.
According to her, since its establishment in 2017, The Rebecca Foundation of which she is Executive Director has partnered the Ministry of Health and the GHS to complement government’s enormous investment in the health sector in building and constructing new health facilities and rehabilitating existing facilities, especially in deprived communities.
She said The Rebecca Foundation appreciated quality health being central to the well-being of a nation and has channeled a lot of effort in supporting government in the health sector by donating health equipment and constructing health facilities to support government.
The First Lady made these comments when she presented hospital consumables and also PPEs including nose masks, hand sanitisers, soap, gowns, gloves, baby diapers, washing powder and others to the Saltpond Hospital.
Mrs Akufo-Addo said The Rebecca Foundation has donated hospital equipment and supplies to all 16 regions, including a phototherapy machine to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital and carried out health outreaches and surgeries all over the country.
The Foundation, she said, has also distributed ambulances and renovated and equipped health facilities, including a CHPS compound at Seduase, the Abbam Krom Health Centre and the Osu Government Maternity Home.
“Two of our biggest projects have been an ultra-modern Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and a Maternity, Neo-natal Intensive care and Paediatric Intensive care units, at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital,” the Executive Director of The Rebecca Foundation said.
The First Lady also expressed gladness at her husband, H.E. President Akufo-Addo’s cutting of sod in May this year to reactivate the construction of the Maternity and Children’s Block project of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital which had been abandoned for 44 years.
She explained that while The Rebecca Foundation – constructed Maternity and Paediatric Intensive care unit at KATH is to provide an interim solution to the huge challenges the hospital faces in maternal and child care, the 750-bed facility, which when completed will serve as a referral centre for 12 out of Ghana’s 160 regions, will significantly increase government’s capacity to cater for the health needs of women and children in the country.
Mrs Akufo-Addo pledged The Rebecca Foundation’s commitment to continue to execute initiatives that will enhance the welfare of women and children, health-wise, intellectually and economically.
The First Lady also commended the government on how proactive and incisive it has been in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to the rate of infection slowing down and recoveries going up, cautioning, however, the importance in adopting all the safety precautions, to stop the spread, in the hope of soon getting back to our normal lives.