The Ministry of Health has commented on the most recent report from the Auditor General regarding the government’s COVID-19 expenditures.
In the report, the Auditor General noted that the Ministry of Health on behalf of the Government of Ghana paid an amount of $120,192,379.80 to UNICEF/AVAT for the supply of vaccines, “However, 5,109,600.00 doses of vaccines valued at $38,322,000.00 were supplied to the National Cold Room leaving a difference of US$81,870,379.00 with UNICEF/AVAT.”
The Chief Director of the Health Ministry was advised by the Auditor General to renegotiate and pay the remaining sum.
The Auditor General claims that this needs to be done right away in order to guarantee that the state gets its money back.
The Ministry of Health acknowledged the delay in receiving the vaccines but explained in a statement that the reason the government had not yet acquired the products was due to unexpected hesitancy, problems with the cold chain storage issues, unplanned donations, and storage difficulties on the part of the manufacturer.
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“Due to the unexpected hesitancy, cold chain storage challenges, spontaneous donations, as well as manufacturer’s storage difficulties, the Ministry in June 2022, was compelled to agree on a delivery schedule for the remaining 11,052 million doses to be delivered from June to December 2022. According to the schedule, 1.6 million doses were to be delivered from June to December 2022 to complete the allocation. However, this process was delayed because of the aforementioned challenges.”
However, the Ministry gave the assurance in the statement that steps are being taken to examine the contract.
“Currently, the Ministry requested and has received the June allocation which was delivered in January 2023. In the meantime, the Ministry continues to work with the AVAT for a possible review of the contract, and would want to assure the public of our commitment to work in the supreme interest of the public.”
Source: Citinews
