FAO donates 11 000 high grade FFP3 respirators in response of a demand of the Government of Ghana.
In fulfilment of the United Nations' commitment to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) responded to the Government of Ghana's request for assistance in fighting COVID-19 pandemic and donated 11 000 of FFP3 high-grade respirators. This support compliments efforts by the UN Agencies in Ghana to assist the government to fight COVID-19.
These high-grade respirators were provided with funding from the U.S. government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) flagship programmes of Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT-2) and Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) implemented by FAO, among other partners.
For over a decade, USAID has supported the work of FAO to keep the world safe from infectious diseases. With the advent of SARS-CoV-2, (COVID-19), the demand for emergency supplies has increased exponentially, primarily due to the need to track and test contacts.
Since March 2020, Ghana has recorded over 50 000 positive COVID-19 cases out of which 1019 are active and 323 deceased (as of 23 November 2020). Ghana continues to respond to the steady increase in the number of active cases of COVID-19 across the country.
Presenting the items to the Ministry of Health, Jocelyn Brown-Hall, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Africa and Representative to Ghana, reiterated the FAO’s continuous commitment to support the government and people of Ghana and other member nations across the globe in the fight against COVID-19. She praised the USAID for the continuous partnership with the FAO.
USAID and FAO
The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges in our everyday lives. As we each do our part to help slow the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, globally, USAID is supporting FAO to implement EPT-2 and GHSA programmes, in over 30 countries including Ghana to prevent, detect and respond to emerging public and animal health threats.
In addition to donating respirators, FAO has a particular focus on reviewing and understanding the emergence of the virus at the animal-human interface and its impact on people’s livelihoods. Since the outbreak began, FAO has been actively promoting hygiene practices and epidemic updates on its global website, as well as through social media and other platforms, in order to contribute to the prevention and control of the spread of the coronavirus.