Following the swell in COVID-19 cases in India, Ghana has provided 150 oxygen concentrators to support hospitals in that country as a token to help India in its fight against the pandemic.

The oxygen concentrators, which come with free after-sales and warranty support for a year, have been dispatched to about 30 hospitals across 14 states in India, mainly in the rural areas.

Ghana also handed over seven units of 10-litre oxygen concentrators to the Ministry of External Affairs of India, through the Ghana High Commission in New Delhi.

The Coordinator of the COVID-19 Aid to India, Mr Amar Deep S. Hari, who commissioned the medical devices that concentrate oxygen from ambient air, expressed his excitement about the gesture, indicating that they would be a long-term benefit to the beneficiary facilities.

“During the second wave of the COVID-19, although sitting far away from India, Ghanaians couldn’t be just silent spectators when an alarm was raised that India was under a humanitarian crisis. So many Ghanaians started coming forward, whether they were drivers, teachers, doctors, students, businessmen and women, and government employees, and each contributed to the best of his or her abilities,” he said.

“This gesture is mainly to show that Ghanaians from Africa are thinking of our Indian brothers and sisters and we are keeping you in our prayers,” he added.

Strong bond

Mr Hari noted that as a country, Ghana was rich in tradition and culture, of which it was proud, adding that one of the main characteristics of Ghanaians was that they found joy in giving and sharing.

Due to the similarities in the colonial past of both countries, he said, the peoples of the two countries had a strong bond.

On business relations, he said India was the second-larges investor in Ghana for many years and also the biggest buyer for Ghana’s gold and cocoa for chocolate.

On the other hand, he said, Ghana also imported a lot of machinery and other products from India, indicating that there was a good connection between the two countries.

Additionally, he said, Ghana continued to support India with medical expertise anytime that country requested it.

”While speaking to some of those medical professionals, I was surprised to know that they were prepared to risk their lives in the service of their brothers and sisters in India,” Mr Hari stated.

Distribution

He indicated that the criteria for the selection of the beneficiary health facilities had been non-discriminatory, non-political and non-religious.

Mr Hari said the first dispatches had already commenced, and that on receipt, the beneficiaries would do a test for the quality of flow and oxygen purity.

In the same vein, he said, a detailed report of all the beneficiaries, along with the photos of the hospitals and the installed units, was being compiled to ensure accountability to the donors.