The Tamale Public Health and Reference Laboratory has made a desperate appeal for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the public.
“Our PPE is not enough and we are actually appealing to the general public to support the facility,” the Head of the laboratory, Dr Abass Abdul Karim, said to Citi News.
He further warned that the hospital will run out of critical equipment latest by tomorrow [Tuesday].
“For now, the most critical aspect is the N-95 [face masks] which are virtually finishing by close of today or tomorrow depending on the workload.”
Staff at the facility need, in particular, the N-95 face masks for the performance of tests on COVID-19 samples collected.
The laboratory serves as the testing centre for the five regions of the northern part of the country as well as the Bono Region.
So far, the laboratory has received 3,633 samples of which 3,397 have been tested.
Right now, Dr, Karim says his outfit is “working together with the Regional Health Directorate to get the needed materials for carrying out their mandate.”
“The request is with the Regional Directorate and he has also forwarded same. We are actually working around the clock to see how best we can get some to Tamale.”
Though the government has announced the allocation of 1.2 million PPE to health facilities in the country, many health facilities have called complained about a lack of PPE.
The Private Health Association of Ghana, for example, has said some private health facilities intend folding up their activities due to the lack of PPE.
Possible hoarding
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, has expressed concern that some persons and institutions are hoarding PPE meant to be distributed to health centres that need them.
The Minister said the development was responsible for the regular claims of lack of PPE in health facilities across the country.
“The feedback we are getting is that some places still don’t get, especially the lower facilities. And on our own search we found out some people are hoarding the PPE and there are reports some are even selling it back to us… We are doing all that we can to try to stop those naughty things,” he said.
Source: citinewsroom
