Advanced technology in healthcare delivery is vital - First Lady

The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo has said there is the need to employ advanced technology to deliver healthcare in the country.

She said with the constant change in characteristics and mutation of diseases, it is imperative to apply advanced technology to combat diseases. Mrs Akufo-Addo made the observation when she visited the headquarters of Terumo Corporation, a leading medical devices manufacturer in Tokyo, Japan.

In the company of Mr Frank Okyere, Ghana’s High Commissioner to Japan, and Mr Charles Owiredu, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Akufo-Addo toured the company’s facilities where she was shown various healthcare structural settings and technologically advanced medical equipment produced by Terumo Corporation.

The First Lady was particularly impressed with the company’s development of the Mirasol Pathogen Reduction Technology System (PRTS), a method by which infectious pathogens in blood transfusions were inactivated thereby reducing the infectious levels of disease-causing agents that may be found in donated blood components.

In Ghana, the Mirasol PRTS, which has been employed at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has proven to be effective in significantly reducing the incidence of transfusion-transmitted malaria in recipients.

With more than one-third of maternal deaths in Africa resulting from severe bleeding during delivery or after childbirth, Mrs Akufo-Addo said, the use of the Marisol PRTS in countries would ensure that blood was cleansed of infectious pathogens.

Citing unfortunate instances where innocent mothers, babies, and other recipients have been infected with various diseases via blood transfusion, the First Lady said, her Rebecca Foundation would work closely with Terumo Corporation to ensure that the Marisol PRTS was employed in various medical facilities in the country as a way of reducing the incidence of transfusion-transmitted diseases to mothers and children.



She said as part of efforts to ensure safe blood transfusion, government was examining the passage of a Blood Services Bill to ensure that all blood transfusions meet an acceptable standard of scrutiny.

She expressed the hope that technologies such as the Marisol PRTS would be employed by health facilities to ensure that collected blood met the right standards.

On behalf of the Ghanaian delegation, Mr Owiredu thanked the management of the company for the tour and expressed the hope of a close co-operation between the Government of Ghana and Terumo Corporation in employing advanced technology in health delivery.