Ghana is one of five African partner countries for the new Tackling Deadly Diseases in Africa Programme 2 (TDDAP2), the UK’s flagship regional health security programme in Africa.
The British High Commissioner launched the programme in Ghana with the Minister of Health, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service and other Ministries and partners.
TDDAP2, led by Palladium, will work with the Government and partners across sectors to help strengthen Ghana’s health security and help prevent, prepare for and respond to infectious disease outbreaks.
On 28th February, H.E. Harriet Thompson, British High Commissioner hosted the Minister of Health and other distinguished guests at her Residence to launch the UK’s new programme of health security cooperation in Ghana. H.E. Harriet Thompson said:
“Health security is a shared priority between the UK and Ghana. Our continued cooperation on preventing and responding to infectious disease outbreaks is central to our mutual partnership. It not only helps protects lives and livelihoods, it is vital to promote long-term economic growth and confront health and infectious disease threats exacerbated by climate change.”
The Tackling Deadly Diseases in Africa Programme 2 (TDDAP2) is the UK’s flagship health security programme in Africa. Alongside working with African public health institutions including WHO AFRO and Africa CDC to strengthen collaborative efforts on African and global health security, TDDAP2 will work in partnership directly with five African countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda, to ensure that national and community systems are better prepared to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies. The programme will support national capacity building to implement National Action Plan for Health Security priorities within a multisectoral One Health, climate-informed approach that ensures gender equity and social inclusion at national and community levels.
The programme in Ghana will be led by Palladium and its expert partners drawn from across the African continent, working closely with the Government of Ghana and other partners to implement national priorities. TDDAP2 will strengthen public health emergency systems, laboratory capacities, and data and surveillance, whilst supporting communities to be an active part of preventing and responding to infectious disease outbreaks.
The array of distinguished guests at the launch reflected the reality that health security is everyone’s business, needing cooperation across multiple Ministries and sectors.
Other distinguished guests included the Chief Directors of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Ministry of Environment Science, Technology and Innovation, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, and the WHO Representative to Ghana Dr. Frank Lule.
With Ghana responding to various outbreaks of infectious diseases, including cholera and meningitis, TDDAP2 represents a further step in the partnership between Ghana and the UK on health security – which is vital to save lives, promote development and support economic growth.
TDDAP2 will work in lockstep with other UK partnerships in Ghana working on health security. This includes recent UK cooperation with WHO, Ghana Health Service and others on strengthening public health preparedness, the Fleming Fund’s support to tackle drug resistance and the Animal Health Systems Strengthening Programme’s activities to address risks around infectious disease outbreaks from animals and the environment.
