Mrs Justina Marigold Assan(2nd left), MCE for Agona West demonstrating how to use a liquid soap to a resident while Mr Ismail Sualah Laari of Qatar Charity look on.

COVID-19: Qatar Charity reaches out to poor families in Agona West Municipality

Gilbert Mawuli Agbey Apr - 16 - 2020 , 11:25

As part of effort towards protecting vulnerable groups against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar Charity, an international humanitarian organisation, has presented sanitary items to 300 poor families in the Agona West Municipality in the Central Region.

The gesture is to assist vulnerable and less privileged groups who faced difficulty in procuring such items to guard themselves against contracting the virus which has claimed thousands of lives and affected hundreds of thousands of people across the world.

The package for each beneficiary family included hand sanitizers, liquid soap and Dettol antiseptic and is intended to enable the beneficiaries to observe proper hand washing and other hygiene practices to protect themselves from the deadly pandemic.

So far, Qatar Charity has distributed 600 pieces of hand sanitizers, 2,400 quantities of liquid soap, 2,400 pieces of Dettol antiseptic and 3,000 nose masks to residents of poor communities in Greater Accra and Central Regions.

Poor people can’t afford

An Engineer at Qatar Charity, Mr Ismail Sualah Laari, who presented the items in an interview with Graphic Online said that as a humanitarian entity, they realised that many poor groups could not practice the acceptable hygiene protocols since they could not afford the needed sanitary items.

According to him, although many people were ready to adhere to and practice regular hand washing, they could not afford the hygiene items that would aid them which exposed them to danger.

He mentioned that as an organisation, they were duty bound to assist the socially disadvantaged in the society in the wake of the pandemic to enable them to overcome it for their own benefit.

“As an organisation, we will continue to reach out to the vulnerable groups in deprived communities and settlements to ensure that more of such individuals are covered,” he pointed out.

For instance, he disclosed that in partnership with the Ministry of Zongo Development, 500 poor families in zongo communities in Greater Accra Region have been provided with similar support to protect them from the virus.

Observe hygiene practices

Mr Laari admonished the beneficiaries to strictly adhere to the hygiene protocols by washing their hands regularly under running water and observe the directive on social distancing to contain the spread of the virus.

He warned Ghanaians not to take things for granted but abide by all protocols and directives aimed at stopping the further spread of the deadly virus, stressing that “the COVID-19 pandemic is no joke and that everyone must join hands to control its spread”.

MCE grateful

For his part, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Agona West, Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, commended Qatar Charity for the timely support as it would go a long way to control the spread of the virus.

She noted that with the region recording its first case, all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) should step surveillance and public education in all communities to prevent the spread of the virus.

On enforcing social distancing at the markets, she noted that the assembly in a meeting with market leaders in the municipality had agreed to run shifts at the various markets to reduce overcrowding to further stop the spread of the virus.