Jackson College of Education, Ghana’s leading private College of Education, has presented a cheque for GH₵ 20,000.00 to the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), at a brief ceremony in Kumasi.
The donation sought to enhance the work of the research institution in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak which continues to spread across the country.
Currently, the KCCR is the only centre in the northern part of Ghana testing blood samples of suspected COVID-19 cases.
The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate has so far collected 13,199 blood samples for testing at the centre as part of its enhanced surveillance initiative and 53 have already tested positive for the respiratory disease.
Mrs. Theodosia Jackson, Principal of the college who presented the cheque on behalf of the college, said the invaluable contribution of KCCR in the fight against COVID-19 must be appreciated by all Ghanaians.
She said mass testing of suspected cases especially in the lockdown areas being undertaken by the centre is critical to the containment of the virus.
“It is for this reason that we are contributing our widow’s mite to the critical service your outfit is providing to the nation”, she stated.
She used the occasion to urge Ghanaians, especially those in the Greater Kumasi Area to stay home and observe all the precautionary protocols to collectively win the fight against the disease.
The partial lockdown and other directives issued by the President, according to her, are in the interest of the entire nation and called for strict compliance to achieve the desired results.
Prof. Richard Philips, Director of the KCCR, commended the college for its generosity and promised to use the funds appropriately towards the COVID-19 fight.
He called for more of such support to enable the centre meets the financial needs that come with the overwhelming number of testing being done at the centre.
In a related development, the college has also presented a cheque for GH₵ 5,000.00 to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Blood Bank to support its drive to restock.
This has become necessary following inadequate blood at the facility due the lack of voluntary blood donation exercises as a result of the Presidential restrictions on mass gathering, as part of measures to contain COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials of KATH in their bid to replenish the blood bank have resorted to calling regular donors to save the situation but lack of funds to pay for their transportation and other consumables is hindering the process.
The donation was therefore to help defray part of the cost to ensure availability of blood to cater for emergency cases.
Mr. Kwame Asenso Mensah, Head of Blood Donor Recruitment at KATH, said the donation would go a long way to facilitate voluntary donations to restock the blood bank.
He said transporting donors to the facility had been a major challenge as it comes with a lot of financial burden hence the gesture by the college comes in handy.
Source: 3news.com | Ghana