Discussions to set up a dedicated fund for epidemics took centre stage at a forum in Accra to collate input for the 2022 budget statement and economic policy. Proponents said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had made such a fund more relevant, hence the need for the government to prioritise the establishment of an epidemic fund. One of the participants, Emmanuel Amirah, the Deputy Country Manager of SEND, an NGO in Ghana, made a suggestion that metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies should commit a proportion of their common fund to epidemic management to guarantee adequate and sustainable financing of the sector.
Some districts complain of lack of simple refrigerators to keep medicines or vaccines at the required temperature for immunisation. This requires money to do, and that is why we are making a case for a specific allocation to epidemics.
He added
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