A U.S. Air Force C-130J
aircraft from the 86th Airlift Wing in Ramstein Air Base, Germany arrived at
Kotoka International Airport to deliver medical supplies to the Government of
Ghana in support of its COVID-19 response efforts.
The delivery included approximately 2,500 kilograms of medical
cargo and supplies provided by the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit Three
(NAMRU-3) Ghana Detachment.
The medical supplies included ribonucleic acid, a nucleic acid
(RNA) extraction kits, reagents, viral collection swabs, universal and viral
transport media to collect and store specimens, and the replenishment of other
consumable lab supplies.
They were originally ordered in
January 2020 to support NAMRU-3 Ghana Detachment research efforts, specifically
ongoing influenza surveillance, in partnership with Ghana’s National Influenza
Center at the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, the Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, and the Kumasi Centre of Collaborative
Research in Tropical Medicine.
Commenting on the delivery of these supplies, U.S. Ambassador to
Ghana Stephanie S. Sullivan noted that: “The arrival of the needed
medical supplies underscores the results of the growing partnership between the
United States of America and the Republic of Ghana to combat COVID-19, to save
lives and protect the people of this nation.
As confirmed cases gradually made their way to West Africa and
eventually Ghana, these essential laboratory supplies became even more critical
during this rapidly evolving crisis and would have remained stranded in
Manchester, U.K., until sometime in May if not for the assistance of the U.S.
Air Force.
The United States commends the Government of Ghana for its
strong efforts to combat this pandemic, and we are pleased to partner in its
leading efforts.”On behalf of AFRICOM, Air Force Brig. Gen. Leo Kosinski, the
Command’s Director for Logistics, said, “The emergence of COVID-19 has
introduced some new hurdles we have had to consider in U.S. Africa Command’s
Area of Responsibility.
Movement of this shipment of
critical medical supplies from the United Kingdom to Ghana represents one of
many logistics moves executed recently despite operating in one of the most
logistically challenging theaters to move people and materiel.
The fact that so many professionals from multiple commands
quickly came together to work through this particular requirement highlights
our amazing and unique team of professionals.
They are working together every day for the interests of the
American people and our global partners even in the toughest of circumstances.”
The April 24 delivery of medical supplies to Ghana follows other critical U.S. military support in the health sector, such as the delivery of two state-of-the-art Level II Field Hospitals that Ambassador Sullivan handed over to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on February 4 on behalf of the United States through the U.S. Government’s Africa Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership program.
One of these hospitals is already being utilized to support the
Government of Ghana’s COVID-19 response efforts in Accra.
NAMRU-3 Ghana Detachment is a collaborator within the Armed
Forces Health Surveillance Branch Global Emerging Infections Surveillance
partner network and has supported influenza surveillance for both human and
avian influenza strains in Ghana since 2007.
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