The Church Donates Medical Equipment, Oversees Medical Training in Ghana

On 24 April, 2025, six medical facilities in the Eastern Region of Ghana celebrated the handover of medical equipment that will augment the training they received in maternal and neonatal care that was facilitated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The handover was the culmination of just one instance of the Church’s larger Global Priorities Initiative to reduce mother and infant mortality.  

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Funded by the Church, the project was a collaborative effort with Jhpiego, a nonprofit organization focused on international health. Because local NGOs like Jhpiego have the personnel already in country to carry out the goals of these types of projects, the Church partners with them, funding them to execute the details of the project while representatives of the Church provide the oversight to ensure that the goals of the project are met.  Overseeing this project was Elder Michael Visick, MD, a pediatrician serving as a missionary for Latter-day Saint Charities. Goals for this project included capacity training for medical professionals as well as a donation of equipment to support that training.

Dr. Winifred Ofosu, Eastern Regional Director of Health for Ghana’s Health Services, gratefully acknowledged the increased capacity of the medical staff from the training provided to the six beneficiary facilities, and then addressed the equipment being handed over: “It gladdens our hearts that with this support we will be able to push better to reduce maternal mortality and  newborn deaths. But training, as we all know, is not sufficient.  If you have all the knowledge and all the skills but you don’t have the needed equipment to work with, you are as useless as the one who has no capacity. And so we are happy that this project is being funded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They didn’t stop only at capacity building but have also procured some equipment so that we will be empowered, fully and completely, to deliver the services. So we are very grateful to you for this important gesture.”

As he continued, Dr. Ofosu, familiar with the concept of Fast Offering donations, reminded the medical professionals in the audience that the equipment they were receiving came from the sacrifice of members of the Church who went without eating so that they could contribute the money from those meals to projects such as this one. He admonished these medical professionals to themselves care for the equipment and not to relegate the care and cleaning of the equipment to support staff who may not know the value of the equipment. He stressed that their personal care would ensure that the equipment will last longer and stay in good condition.

In his remarks to the audience, Elder Visick expanded on the sacrifice made by members through Fast Offerings: “This capacity building and this equipment doesn’t come to  you from a government with an agenda. This comes to you from members of the Church--mothers, fathers, who have sacrificed because they feel that our God does not want mothers to die, and he doesn’t want babies to die. We want you to know that these members care about you in Ghana. They are so concerned about the mothers and babies of Ghana, and the fathers--let’s not leave them out--that they are willing to send [donations] from their sacrifices to be sure that they survive and that they thrive, and that we can support you. So it’s my privilege to be a part of that effort that brings you that love and that concern.  We see you. We see you and we care about you.”

President Kenneth Okonkwo, second counselor in the Ghana Koforidua stake presidency, told the audience: “Today, the handing over of this equipment is most symbolical to us, not just to handover of equipment, but is a symbol of our core value of love, our core value of the importance of life. We believe that the worth of the soul, or the worth of life, is very important to our Father in heaven, so we also value that.”  He expressed gratitude to the healthcare providers who work so diligently to preserve and improve the quality of life for the patients they treat.

Following the ceremony, the attendees went outside to see the truckload of donated equipment, which included hand-held dopplers for fetal heart tone assessment, butterfly hand-held ultrasound devices, stethoscopes, oxygen tanks, Samsung tablets, bag and mask resuscitators, surgical masks and gloves, and much more.