Accra, March 21, GNA - The Minister of Health Major Courage Quashigah (Rtd) was on Thursday given a certificate of honour for his initiative, role and commitment in ensuring a successful and incident-free 26th MTN African Cup of Nations tournament. Health personnel, emergency service providers and the security agencies that provided medical services during the tournament presented a certificate of honour to the Health Minister.

The medical team included health personnel, Fire Service, Red Cross, Saint John Ambulance, National Ambulance Service and National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO). Presenting the certificate to the Minister, Lepuwura Alhaji Mohammed N. D. Jawula, Chief Director of the Ministry of Health and a member of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the tournament, commended the Minister for his relentless efforts in bringing together the medical service providers and the security services to work as a team. "Major Quashigah is a trained soldier, who swayed from his ministerial position and acted as a general on the field during the simulation exercises prior to the tournament and made sure that everything, both human and equipment, was set for action and truly we had an incident-free tournament."

Lepowura Jawula noted that with the singular initiative by the Minister, he was able to scrutinize the various agencies, which participated in the tournament to abide by the rules and regulations in Emergency Medical Service for a successful event.

He said the LOC thought the medical area would be a difficult area "but fortunately, it turned out to be an area that we had the least headache".

Representatives from the various medical teams commended the Minister for his laudable efforts towards the success of the tournament and for harmonizing the various agencies that participated in the tournament and called for its sustainability. Major Quashigah, who was lost for words, said it had always been bosses honouring the subordinates, "but today it is rather me being honoured and I really appreciate it".

He noted that safety of the people was their priority and also commended the medical teams for their efforts in executing their responsibilities, adding, "I couldn't have done it all alone".