NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a British multinational pharmaceutical company, has rolled out a three- year healthcare programme to support the training of more than 9,000 health workers in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.

GSK is investing £ 5.85 million into the project, which would involve the training of frontline health workers across the three countries as well as build on initiatives to help strengthen health systems.

A statement issued in Accra and copied to Ghana News Agency by Mr Samuel Nkansah, Head, Government Affairs, West Africa, said GSK is in partnership with Amref Health Africa, One Million Community Health Workers (1mCHW) Campaign and Save the Children project.

The statement said the programme is a significant step in GSK’s strategy to increase access to healthcare and deliver long-term economic growth across Africa, by stimulating research; increasing capacity in local medicine supply; and strengthening healthcare infrastructure.

It said the project also seeks to strengthen health systems by enabling staff to manage the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases as well as combat infectious illnesses and improve maternal and child health.

The statement said alongside the training, GSK’s investment is designed to support community health education and advocacy to help ensure that the programme would make a long-term impact.

It said GSK and its partners have supported the training of 25,000 health workers, reaching 6.5 million people, and extended the project to other areas in Africa where health inequalities persist.