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afrol News, 30 October - With the hope of improving the general health situation in Ghana, a new project has now been approved. The aim is specifically to improve the coverage of quality basic health all around the country with a view to reducing inequalities in health outcomes. The new Ghanaian health project is supposed to involve "a strengthening of health services in high-density areas, particularly through the relocation of Bekwai and Tarkwa district hospitals," according to information released today. The focus of the project further was "on the improvement of the management of sexually transmitted infections and ensuring safe blood transfusion through the construction and provision of equipment to a new national blood transfusion centre in Accra at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital." Four other regional centres - in Secondi/Takoradi, Tamale, Kumasi and Ho - were to be established. It is hoped that this will enhance the accessibility of low cost quality basic health services to the most underprivileged people. It further is to "promote national economic growth and social development through the improvement of maternal health, the reduction of maternal and child mortality as well as malaria, HIV/AIDS and control of sexually transmitted infections, enabling thereby the population to have more time for income generating activities." The project is co-financed by the African Development Fund (ADF), the Nordic Development Fund and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to a statement by ADF, the Fund today approved a loan and a grant, totalling an approximately US$ 25 million to finance this project. The ADF loan and grant will be used to finance 72.9 percent of the foreign exchange and 40.9 percent of the local costs of the project whose total cost is estimated at US$ 38.84 million, the Abidjan-based Fund said today. By Knut Henrik Gjone Sources: Based on ADF and afrol archives
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