U.S. Africa Command donated approximately $75,000 in COVID-19 supplies to the Ghana Armed Forces Aug. 28.

"Ghana is an important U.S. partner in Africa,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Fletcher Washington, AFRICOM deputy director for operations. “AFRICOM and the U.S. Embassy are working to support our Ghanaian partners in the fight against COVID-19.”

AFRICOM used Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid Appropriation (OHDACA) funds to purchase the supplies, which included 10,000 N95 face masks, 1,600 hospital gowns, 2,000 liters of methylated spirit, 3,000 liters of sodium hypochlorite, 20 glucometers, 200 glucometer strips, and 14 pulse oximeters.

This donation of medical supplies and the cooperative delivery between USAFRICOM and the Ghana Armed Forces are testaments to the advanced partnership between the United States and Ghana.

“The United States is leading the world in providing critical international assistance as, together, we battle this global pandemic,” U.S. Ambassador to Ghana Stephanie Sullivan said during a handover ceremony at Burma Camp. “The GAF continues to play a leading role, along with the Ministry of Health, in responding to the pandemic here in Ghana. The U.S. Embassy and AFRICOM are proud to partner with the GAF in this and many other endeavors.”

“This generous gesture by the U.S. Embassy and AFRICOM is very timely in the midst of the pandemic in which we find ourselves. It is in times of crisis that you know who your true friends are; and the United States has proven to be a worthy friend of Ghana, and in particular the Ghana Armed Forces, during this crisis of COVID-19 pandemic. For us in the GAF, the least we can do is to facilitate the delivery of these critically needed medical supplies to the places where they are most needed,” said Lt. Gen. Obed Boamah Akwa, Ghana Chief of the Defence Staff.

Previously, AFRICOM has supported 37 military hospitals in Ghana with donations of medical supplies as well as two state-of-the-art Level II Field Hospitals to the Ghana Armed Forces in February 2020.  The GAF has since deployed one of the hospitals in Accra, and it is now the second-largest COVID-19 treatment center in Ghana.