The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has officially commenced a health sector cooperation project in Ghana, aimed at improving the health of mothers, newborns, children, and adolescents.

On March 13, KOICA announced that it held a kick-off ceremony at the Accra City Hotel in Ghana's capital on the 10th, marking the start of the "Regional Health Cooperation Project" in partnership with the Ghanaian government. The event was attended by representatives from the Ghana Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ghana Health Service (GHS), regional health officials, and administrators from various hospitals and health facilities.

This project will be implemented from 2025 to 2029 with a budget of approximately $13 million (KRW 17 billion). Its primary goal is to enhance Ghana’s regional healthcare system, ensuring that pregnant women, infants, children, and adolescents can receive medical services more safely.

The project is managed and operated by a research team led by Professor So-yoon Kim of the Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health, with the Korea Institute for Development Strategy (KDS) providing support for project operations and policy cooperation.

The core of this initiative is strengthening the linkages between regional healthcare institutions. The project centers on building a dense cooperation network among regional hospitals, health centers, and community health facilities to ensure patients are referred, treated, and managed in a timely manner. This includes improving systems for the swift transport of emergency patients to tertiary hospitals and providing education and training for healthcare personnel. Additionally, the project plans to strengthen institutional frameworks for analyzing and preventing the causes of maternal and neonatal mortality.

In the initial phase of the project, a baseline survey will be conducted to assess the workforce, equipment, and service delivery capacities of target regional hospitals and health facilities. Through this, a comprehensive analysis of medical personnel, equipment status, and patient referral systems will be performed to establish future project directions and performance evaluation benchmarks.

Ghana has recently been pursuing various policies to lower maternal and neonatal mortality rates. However, the country faces challenges in providing healthcare services due to significant regional disparities in hospital accessibility and shortages of medical personnel and equipment in many areas. This project is focused on reducing these regional gaps and strengthening the essential healthcare delivery system.

Professor So-yoon Kim of the Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health stated, "This project is a vital international cooperation effort to protect the health of mothers, babies, children, and adolescents by strengthening Ghana's regional healthcare system." She added, "We will work closely with Ghanaian health authorities to build a sustainable healthcare system and contribute to improving the health levels of local residents."

LINK : https://v.daum.net/v/20260313094744960