GHS donates vehicles to 3 organisations
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has donated vehicles to three organisations to support community engagement and outreach programmes aimed at combating HIV/AIDS.
Two Toyota Hilux and a Land Cruiser Prado were given to the Prisons Service, Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GANET), and the Hope for Future Generation (HFFG).
The donation formed part of the $248 million allocation by the Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund to support Ghana’s fight against tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria.
Presenting the vehicles on Wednesday, the Acting Director General of GHS, Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, emphasised that the vehicles were given to the beneficiary institutions with the responsibility to deliver results.
“We are not just giving them cars, we are giving them a tool to help us achieve our goals, they will have to provide us with a monthly checklist of their activities and interventions,” he said.
In addition, he stated that the vehicles donated to the beneficiary institutions were to enable them intensify awareness creation and education about HIV, particularly in vulnerable communities.
“We need to work together with civil society organisations and NGOs to take the message to the community level,” he mentioned.
Prof. Akoriyea said the donation was part of the GHS’s efforts to reduce the stigma associated with HIV and provide free medication to those affected, adding that there was the need for a continuous awareness creation to help eradicate the virus.
He also disclosed that the Ghana AIDS Commission was partnering with the GHS to support the initiative.
Mr Samuel Hackman, the Executive Secretary, Country Coordinating Mechanism, Global Fund, disclosed that a total of 45 Land Cruiser vehicles were procured to enhance community delivery of HIV service.
The three vehicles, he stressed, were taken from the total, and the remaining 42 vehicles he added were expected to be allocated to other organisations, as part of the Global Fund’s efforts to strengthen community-based initiatives in the fight against HIV.
On behalf of the recipients, the president of Ghana HIV and AIDS Network, Mr Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin, expressed gratitude to Prof. Akoriyea for the kind gesture and assured him that the vehicles received would be used for the intended purpose.
“On behalf of all the three organisations receiving the vehicles today, I can assure you that we will put them into a very good use and bring you all the results that you desire,” he said.
“We thank you so much for thinking about us and supporting us with these vehicles,” he added. BY CYNTHIA ASAMPANA
