Korea pledges more support for health sector
The government of Korea has pledged to invest more in Ghana’s health sector, which remains a priority area of development assistance and cooperation between the two countries.
According to the Korean Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Sungsoo Kim, health constituted a fundamental human right, hence Korea’s resolve to partner Ghana to make quality health care accessible to the people.
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Mr Kim made the pledge at a health practitioners' forum organised by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH), in Accra last Wednesday.
Initiatives
The ambassador said KOICA’s flagship $9 million Improving Community-based Primary Healthcare through CHPS Strengthening (CHPS+) project was being implemented in all the 13 districts in the Upper East Region in partnership with the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
He said KOICA had also collaborated with the US Centre for Disease Control, the Ministry of Health and the GHS for the implementation of a $7.5 million Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) project in Ghana last year, which was expected to end in 2021.
“We also have KOICA Global Doctor, Dr Mee Joo Kang, at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital. Through her “Establishing and Expanding Laparoscopic Surgery Project”, she has been conducting laparoscopic surgeries, as well as training doctors and theatre nurses through simulation laboratory and animal sessions since she was dispatched to Ghana in 2016,” Mr Kim added.
He said KOFIH had also been working in the area of maternal, child and reproductive health in Ghana.
“KOFIH is presently working in four districts in the Volta Region and it intends to expand to two more districts to help improve access to health”, he added.
For her part, the Deputy Country Director of KOICA Ghana Office, Ms Jeongyi Choi, said her outfit worked in four priority sectors in the country, namely health, agricultural and rural development, education and energy.
She said some selected health officials had also participated in KOICA’s country-specific invitational training, global fellowships and master’s degree scholarship programmes.
That, Ms Jeongyi explained, was to build the capacity of individuals and institutions for the accelerated development of the country.
Commendation
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Nana Kwabena Adjei-Mensah, commended the government of Korea for investing in Ghana’s economy, particularly the health sector.
He said KOICA’s scholarship programmes had also impacted positively on the social and economic development of the country.
According to Nana Adjei-Mensah, the programme had helped shape the career of many government workers. He advised the alumni of KOICA scholarship programmes to adopt the hardworking lifestyle of the people of Korea.