Coronavirus: Catholic Church appeals for PPEs for its 129 health facilities in Ghana

The National Catholic Secretariat with the blessing of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has made a special appeal to all Catholic organisations, businesses, the faithful and any person who stands in a position to assist one way or the other by way of donating any Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to support Catholic Health Facilities.

In a letter dated March 27, Rev. Fr. Lazarus Anondee, the Secretary-General of the National Catholic Secretariat in Accra, invited all Catholics to donate protective equipment and other medical suppliers to support the 46 Hospitals and the 83 Clinics run by the Church under the National Catholic Health Service in the fight against the pandemic.

The appeal, which is part of a nine-month National Emergency Response Plan for COVID-19 by the Church, Fr. Anondee said “Against this backdrop, the National Catholic Secretariat has the blessing of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference to make this special appeal to all Catholic organisations, businesses, the faithful and any person who stands in a position to assist one way or the other by way of donating any of the PPEs,”

The PPEs listed to be donated to the Catholic Health facilities included non-disposal Isolation gowns, face masks, Aprons, Helmets, Safety glasses/goggles, hand sanitizers, safety boots, gloves, disposable isolation gowns, methylated spirit and gun thermometers.

“In these times of COVID-19 pandemic, there is the need for people all over the world and Ghana in particular, to live exemplary Christ-like lives by extending love, kindness, and care to those are most affected or in the line of high risk to the deadly COVID-19,” the letter stated.

“We will respect the decision of any donor to donate either directly to any of our Catholic Hospital or Clinic of your choice or to the central point at the National Catholic Secretariat, the Letter added.

According appeal, “resource constraints, global shortage of PPEs and other basic medical supplies stand the way of preventing new infections and spread, saying that this particularly makes the situation grim for our health professionals whose jobs bring them face-to-face with the disease.”

Fr. Anondee stated that “these brave professionals in our midst have embraced their jobs as a calling to serve humanity and they do these at the peril of their own lives, those of their families and other patients.”

He noted “the leadership of the Church and government are trying to make these resources available but there is still a huge deficit with these protective materials for use.

He announced that “We also anticipate that in the case of a lockdown, the Secretariat has planned to feed and provide shelter for those in need especially in our cities.”

However, on March 27, the President of Ghana announced in his 4th nationwide televised address that movements in some urban areas in the country especially Accra and Kumasi will be restricted from Monday, March 30, 2020 for two weeks as part of government measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.