Ghana placed 105th out of the 195 member countries of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the
2019 Global Health Security Index.
The country scored an overall score of 35.5 points out of 100.
Ghana’s score was below the average global score of 40.2 points, which points to the fact that the country’s health system is functioning well below the global average and may not be providing the securities needed to manage health care in Ghana.
One of the categories in the report is that of “Prevention”; which scored a country’s preparedness to prevent the emergency release of pathogens that could constitute an extraordinary public health risk.
Ghana’s score was 32.2 points and is ranked amongst the least prepared.
Ghana’s score on “Detection and Reporting” which measured a country’s ability to detect and report epidemics of potential international concern that can spread beyond national or regional borders was slightly above the global average at 40.5 points.
Ghana’s score in this category could have been much higher if its score in health data integration between human, animal and environmental health sectors had not been zero.
However, Ghana’s lowest score, 23.4 points out of 100 points, was in the category that measured the country’s health system’s ability to sufficiently and robustly treat the sick and protect health workers.
This comes on the back of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Ghana which has so far claimed five lives.
Ghana’s case count currently stands at 152 with two recoveries.
Source:Fiilafmonline/CitiNews
