New York City announces aid for Ghana’s COVID-19 response
Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, as part of the City’s COVID-19 humanitarian relief efforts, on Wednesday, November 10, 2021, announced that the City of New York has donated medical supplies and personal protective equipment to the Tamale Teaching Hospital in the Northern Region.
Delivery of the donation includes test kits, N95 masks, isolation gowns, and face shields will be aided by the Afya Foundation, which brings donated medical supplies to underserved and compromised health systems globally.
“Early on during the COVID-19 crisis, communities across the nation and the world stepped up to help New York City,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Now, it’s our turn. This donation to our partners in Ghana is another example of New York City’s commitment to helping communities across the world fight against COVID-19.”
“Just like New York City received assistance when we needed it most, it is our moral duty to assist others facing the threat of COVID-19 around the world,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Melanie Hartzog.
“I thank NYU, the Afya Foundation and our City agencies for coming together to make this donation to Ghana possible,” he added.
“New York City was the epicentre at the beginning of the pandemic, and the world came together to help us in getting lifesaving PPE to our medical workers. We continue to stand in solidarity with our friends in Ghana and with other communities around the world in the global fight against COVID-19,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Chokshi.
“Several layers of collaborations and partnerships at different levels have helped culminate in these donations from Afya and the NYC to help in Ghana’s Covid-19 fight,” said Dr. Kareem Mumuni, Ag. CEO – Tamale Teaching Hospital.
Adding, “As a healthcare facility, the Tamale Teaching Hospital is excited because, not only will we be beneficiaries of this support, but more so because we will serve as conduit for these items to reach other healthcare facilities within the hard-to-reach areas of Northern Ghana, as well as other sister teaching, secondary and primary healthcare facilities in other regions of the country. We are grateful to all our partners and collaborators. Together, we can indeed achieve more!”
“We were proud to connect NYU-Langone with DCAS in pursuit of this critical initiative,” said Danielle Butin, Founder and CEO, Afya Foundation. “With over a decade of experience delivering surplus medical supplies to communities in need all over the world, we are honored to lend our logistics expertise to this initiative. This donation is a beautiful example of what can happen when we work together and are generous with our resources.”
Donated items were recently shipped to Ghana and should arrive in early December. The donation includes 1.2 million test kits, nearly 150,000 N95 masks, 30,000 isolation gowns, and 7,500 face shields, with a total value estimated at over $4.7 million.
The donation announced by the Mayor of New York City on Wednesday follows COVID-19 response-related donations the City made to India in May, and to Indonesia in August 2021.
