International non-governmental organization, Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) has launched a campaign to garner one million Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers in the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

At a press briefing in Accra, Tuesday, Country Director of the organization, Chief Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko, remarked that the initiative is in recognition of the risk(s) encountered by health professionals in providing care to people living in Ghana.

His outfit, he mentioned, is embarking on this project in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and other partners, to complement government efforts aimed at protecting health professionals in the discharge of their duties, especially in times of outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic the world is currently battling with.

“We are in unprecedented times that calls for unprecedented responses to overcome this unprecedented challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that indeed, our human resources for health, at all levels, and at all categories must be protected,” he remarked.

“Much as every person needs to be protected, this category of human resource may need it more. Our health workers are not any special than any other person walking across the streets of this country; but just in any battle, they have placed themselves in the frontline and risked their lives to protect the health of the rest of the population. There is therefore the need to protect this category of human resource…” Chief Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko continued.

In his 17th address to the nation on measures taken by government to fight the pandemic, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo though happy about the efforts, admonished the populace to wear face masks and adhere to all the protocols.

While announcing the ease of restrictions, he extended the mandatory wearing of face mask to December 14, stressing that “We will emerge victorious in the fight against COVID-19. Zero active cases must be the ultimate aim.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control has praised African states for managing to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Africa has seen about 1.4 million cases, and 34,000 deaths since March.

These figures are far lower than those in Europe, Asia or the Americas, with reported cases continuing to decline.