At their 2nd Quadrenni National Congress, members highlighted inadequate support and limited opportunities for professional development as critical issues affecting midwives in the country.

President of the National Association of Registered Midwives, Ghana, Mary Ofosu, says the shortage of essential health materials, such as gloves, hinders the quest for safe deliveries.

She urged the procurement departments to involve midwives, as end users of medical supplies, in procurement decision-making processes.

Mrs. Ofosu also highlighted limited opportunities for midwives to upgrade their skills, as well as discrimination in allocation of public accommodation facilities.

She however urged midwives not to reject postings to rural areas despite the challenges, as their presence is crucial for maternal healthcare.

The Trades Union Congress observed that investing in midwives would significantly reduce maternal and infant mortality in the country.

Secretary-General, Joshua Ansah, says midwives need better policies to support their career growth, while staffing concerns are addressed.

The Association’s concerns highlight the urgent need for government’s intervention to enhance midwifery services to improve maternal healthcare and save lives.

Moreover, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has yet to certify two of the cleared containers housing some injectables.

People living with HIV, tuberculosis, and other health conditions who depend on Global Fund-donated medications would have to wait a while longer for the supplies to reach them.

The spokesperson for the Coalition of CSOs in Health, Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin, says despite completing all customs documentation, logistical challenges are slowing the process, as only sixteen containers can be cleared per day.

He estimates it will take an additional two weeks to transport all containers to their destinations across the country.

“Even though clearance has been given for all the containers to be removed, there is the challenge of how many trucks can be offloaded in a day. Under current circumstances, the Central Medical Stores typically offloads eight trucks a day, but now they are forced to offload a maximum of 16 a day. This means it will take some time to transport all the containers from the port to the warehouse. Technically speaking, the GRA and other port authorities have given the go-ahead for the commodities to be cleared, but logistical reasons are delaying their transportation to the warehouse.”

He added that this week, they are receiving 70 containers and that provisions have been made for these 70 containers. Earlier, they received 64 containers, and in the coming week, they expect to receive another 64 containers. By their projection, within a maximum of two weeks, all containers should be transported from the port to the warehouses.

In an interview on Joy News, he stated that although some medications have been shipped to regional centres, the FDA has yet to certify two containers containing injectables. “We started with the first batch to arrive. When they did, the FDA was invited to inspect them. All the certified ones were quickly dispatched to the regions. Only one or two containers are left, which the FDA is still testing for malaria and artesunate injections. These two containers have yet to leave, but all the others have already been distributed to the regional medical stores.”
He confirmed that the inspected medications sent to the regional medical stores were in good condition and safe for use.

“The FDA okayed them and so they were transported, the ones they had issues with them, they still haven’t given the go-ahead for them to be transported so they are still at the warehouse,” he added.

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Many have expressed concerns about the locked-up medical supplies and their ripple effects on the quality of health delivery across the country.

The Minority in Parliament said it would stage a demonstration if these concerns are not addressed immediately.

Addressing journalists, the Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, charged the government to do the needful and clear the containers.

“Remember, we addressed you on the locked-up commodities and medications at the port. And as you know, we the members of parliament from the Minority side will not relent in our effort to push the government to clear these locked-up commodities and drugs until they are cleared from the port. That must be put on record and as we speak, not all the containers containing drugs and commodities at the port have been cleared.

“We are a group of reasonable people and so we have heard the plea by the minister responsible for help that we should give him two weeks.

“Although it doesn’t make any sense to plead for two weeks to clear commodities that have been at the port for one good year, we have heard him but we are sending a clear signal and warning that within his own two weeks, all, and the emphasis is all, all the containers, containing these drugs should be cleared from the port.
Not some, as they have been doing.”

He also urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, respond to the grievances of the Medical Laboratory Professional Workers’ Union to avoid the situation of health workers travelling outside the country to seek greener pastures.

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The medical items were funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the German Government (BMZ), the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission and WAHO and procured by GIZ and UNDP. This is the second bulk of distribution of critical COVID-19 medical supplies to the 15-member countries of ECOWAS by WAHO.

The items include face masks, protective goggles, overalls, gloves, oxygen concentrators, and pulse oxymitters.

The donation forms part of a $50 million support facility to ECOWAS to enhance the regional fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Receiving the items, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Kwabena Boadu Oku-Afari, on behalf of the Minister for Health, expressed the government’s gratitude to WAHO and its partners for their support.

He underlined the importance of the items which he said will enhance testing and treatment of the COVID-19 cases in the country.

The Head of Logistics at the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control, Sampson Ayeni, who led the team to donate the items, was hopeful that the supply would be efficiently used.

He mentioned that more distributions and allocations will be done because additional items would be procured for member countries of which Ghana would be a beneficiary.

He was full of commendation for Ghana for the support ECOWAS had received from the country and thanked Ghana and Nigeria for supporting the transportation and storage of the supplies under the ECOWAS emergency support facility to member countries and with aircraft and warehouses.

Christoph Retzlaff, the German Ambassador to Ghana, described the donation as significant, pledging his country’s commitment to supporting Ghana in the fight against COVID-19 as demonstrated through the funding of some of the items.

Ms. Silke Hollander, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Ghana noted that UNDP, as part of the UN System, remains committed to working with the government and partners to provide lifesaving medical supplies to enhance the capacity of frontline workers to fight the pandemic.

Chinese Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Shi Ting WANG, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Ambassadors of West Africa countries to Ghana, Acting Resident Coordinator of United Nations, Representative and Country Director of WFP, Representative and Country Director of World Health Organisation and Depot Manager of UNHRD attended the ceremony.

The donations were 95 face masks, medical protective suits, goggles, gloves and medical facilities like exergen temporal artery thermometer and others, which are urgently-needed medical supplies for fighting against COVID-19.

In addition to Ghana, the other 17 beneficial countries are Nigeria, Senegal, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. The rest are Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Benin, Republic of Congo, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe.

Ambassador Wang, in his speech, said that Ghana, as the aviation hub in the region, is the transit center for the materials.

He gave special thanks to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, and the Ghana government for supporting and facilitating the transfer.

He also expressed deep appreciation to UNHRD for activating its dexterous and reliable distribution network accordingly for the rest of 17 African countries.

Ambassador Wang said that China itself has just tasted the bitterness of COVID-19 and is still recovering.

As for a country with the biggest population in the world, medical supplies in China are insufficient too.

He said that nearly every country in the world has asked for China’s help. During this tough time, medical items are in short supply because of great demand. Like masks and medical use protective suits, they are not available in the market. In face of such a huge challenge, we have managed to procure these supplies and get them here in chartered flight when all scheduled flights have come to a halt. It is not easy per say. This effort shows China’s firm commitment to China-Africa relations.

Ambassador Wang pointed out that China is always together with Africa. First, China has established an on-line training platform to share medical expertise with medical workers from Ghana and other African countries.

Second, China will continue to donate medical supplies to African countries. He talked to Jack Ma yesterday and has reached a consensus with him on this matter and many Chinese companies are also doing their best to help.

Third, the Chinese government will further strengthen medical cooperation with African countries in a bid to contain this pandemic.

Ambassador Wang said “that there is only one earth and we are the community with shared future. COVID-19 is the enemy of all humanity and needs a united response of all nations. People should not waste time on blame game, nor stigmatizing and politicizing other country’s efforts.”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in response, commended China on the support of medical supplies to Ghana and other 17 African countries during such a critical time, and spoke highly on China-Ghana, China-Africa friendship.

She also gave special thanks to the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, for his coordination and appeal for support to African countries. She promised to handover the materials to the health services immediately and facilitate the distribution for the rest of 17 African countries.

Minister of Health, Mr Agyeman-Manu expressed his gratitude to China for the timely donation and hinted of the government’s readiness to collaborate more in the fight against this pandemic, especially with China which has amassed invaluable experiences.

Ambassador Mba Bela Abaha, Dean of African Diplomatic Corps in his speech, on behalf of the whole region, expressed gratitude to China’s timely support and said that China is a reliable friend to Africa and has always been there whenever Africa needed help.