Gifty Atampugbire, a Public Health Nurse at the Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate has presented gifts to pre-term and newborn babies at the Neonatal Intensive Care and Maternity Units of the Upper East Regional hospital.

The gesture was part of activities to show gratitude to God for her save recovery from COVID-19 infection after she played a lead role with her team of health professionals to embark on sensitization programmes on COVID-19 in all 86 communities in the Bolgatanga Municipality.

The items included; cot sheets, baby diapers, biscuits, assorted drinks, and locally made face masks for both mothers and expectant mothers in the two Units, and also extended similar gifts to the Bongo District Hospital.

Ms Atampugbire encouraged mothers of the pre-term babies not to give up on their babies, but trust God for their survival, saying “I was once like your babies, but today I am here with you strong and healthy, so have faith in God.”

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after she and her team distributed the items, the nurse disclosed that, apart from her appreciation to God for surviving the virus, the gesture was part of her birthday celebration.

“I am a survivor of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed several lives, and so to live up to this day, I have to give thanks to God and share the little I have with these little ones that God has introduced into the world.”

Ms Atampugbire advised members of the public to be extra careful and adhere strictly to the COVID-19 protocols as they went about their daily activities, and said: “I was careful as I went about educating members of the public, but still got infected and so people need to be extra careful.”

The nurse, during the peak of the pandemic in the Region, embarked on several sensitisation programmes on radio, at market centres, drinking spots and in communities using drama and also demonstrated to the public, proper handwashing and the use of face masks.

“You would realise that the Region has not recorded deaths like other Regions. That is by virtue of how far we took the fight against the virus to the doorsteps of the people, especially in the rural areas.

“So during the fight, some individuals and organisations recognized my efforts and nominated me for awards. The first award was from Narrative Changers, a development oriented youth group in this Region,” she said.

Ms Atampugbire was also nominated among 100 most influential personalities in the Northern sector under the health category, and eventually won the award among top 10 other professionals, and went on to win the Youth Excellence Award, for leading the fight against the virus.

She said even though she got infected in her quest to see the Region free of COVID-19, she would not relent but intensify the education in every nook and cranny of the Municipality and Region at large.

Madam Ayisha Moro, the Lying-in Ward Manager at the Maternity Unit, on behalf of management of the Regional hospital, thanked Ms Atampugbire for the gifts and prayed for good health and strength for her to continue her work towards the fight against the virus despite all odds.