Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ministry of Health (MoH), Isaac Offei Baah, has announced that the Ministry plans to clear the remaining 168 containers of essential medical supplies stuck at the Tema Port by next week.
On Friday, April 12, the MoH received 14 out of the 182 containers at the Tema Port. These containers hold essential medicines for antiretroviral, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria treatments, donated by the Global Fund (GF).
The essential medical commodities, including antiretroviral drugs for HIV patients, have been stuck at the Tema port for almost a year due to the government’s inability to pay third-party fees.
In an interview with Selorm Adonoo on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Friday, Mr. Baah clarified that the 182 containers do not contain any antiretroviral drugs and that the remaining 168 containers only hold mosquito nets.
“The 182, today, we cleared 14 containers hoping to get the rest released by next week. Of the 182 containers that we have at the port, we must say that there had not been any antiretroviral drugs among the 182. But as a ministry, we don’t have preferences as to which commodity is more essential than the other. And so when it is 182, our target is to clear 182 containers from the port.”
“We are fortunate that today we have been able to clear the 14 containers out and then the remaining 167 [168] containers will be cleared hopefully next week and that has to do with the mosquito nets,” he stated.
In a separate statement in Accra, Alhaji Hafiz Adam, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health (MoH), revealed that the 168 containers, estimated to cost around GHC17 million, contain non-medicine commodities such as bed nets and Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs).