Ghana is receiving technical support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) to strengthen Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) in the Ashanti Region to contain the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The implementation of the RCCE, aimed at providing timely and accurate information on the causes, transmission, common signs/symptoms, and prevention of the disease, is one of the key strategies by the health authorities in the fight against covid-19.

The intervention by the WHO is to scale up public education and community engagement in the Ashanti Region, where the Delta variant is driving transmission at the community level.

The WHO has, therefore, deployed a health promotion specialist from its Regional Office for Africa to provide technical support to the risk communication team in the region.

Ms Aminata Grace Kobie is scheduled to spend two weeks working with the regional team to raise public awareness on the importance of observing the Covid-19 safety protocols.

Ms Kobie, accompanied by Sandra Afriyie Nartey, the Communication Officer at the WHO Ghana Office, on Monday held a meeting with the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, and his management team to discuss pertinent issues.

After the meeting, she stated that she was in the region to promote public health measures and vaccination, using Covid-19 strategies that had worked in other countries.

Ms Kobie said the WHO was targeting the Ashanti Region because it had been identified as one of the hotspots in Ghana, and with the huge population, the successful implementation of preventive measures would have significant effects on the other regions.

“After my visit, we hope that adherence level to public health measures and vaccination would have increased to make the Ashanti Region safer and prevent the next outbreak of Covid,” she said.

Ms Kobie said the discovery of the vaccines was the best thing that had happened to the fight against the disease, globally, and urged everyone to take it when the opportunity came.