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14.08.2019 Health

Korean IT Firm, GHS Launch Epidemic Prevention Platform In Ghana

Korean IT Firm, GHS Launch Epidemic Prevention Platform In Ghana
14.08.2019 LISTEN

As part of its efforts to address global human welfare issues, KT Technologies has launched the Global Epidemic Prevention Platform (GEPP) in Ghana — the first such endeavor launched outside Korea.

The KT-Ghana GEPP Platform which according to KT's Future Platform Business Group President, Lee Dong-Myun, uses services provided by big data on health and communications technologies for disease prevention, will upgrade Ghana's capacity to handle infectious diseases such as the Ebola virus disease.

He said KT will continue to explore new ways to use its varied technologies and capabilities in international collaborative projects that address global human welfare.

KT, the leading Korean telecommunication provider, officially launched the GEPP platform after a ceremony held at Accra City Hotel on August 14, 2019.

The project, which is in conjunction with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), is the first public-private partnership between Korea and Ghana.

According to KT, the GEPP platform would enable the GHS to improve its ability to fight diseases in a more systematic manner.

The platform is the result of a joint effort by the South Korean company and the Ghanaian government to boost Ghana's health information system using information communications technology (ICT).

The GEPP Ghana Ghana Platform Has 3 Main functions:

1. GEPP Public warns Ghanaians who are visiting epidemic-prone areas with useful information and data.

2. Secondly, GEPP Clinic enables the public to make real-time reports to health offices in case if an outbreak of an epidemic.

3. GEPP Gov also enables the government to gauge and monitor a public health crisis based on data collected from GEPP Public and GEPP Clinic.

Data is also collected from newly digitized airport immigration information, which until now had been manually compiled.

The platform will help the Ghanaian public to quickly respond to the current ebola virus disease outbreak in some parts of Africa as it will be easier to report to health authorities during an outbreak, resulting in a drastic improvement in early detection of diseases for early responses.

At the GEPP Ghana launch ceremony, KT Technologies gave a briefing on the platform produced by the Korean-Ghanaian public-private partnership on how the big data-based quality health information service will benefit Ghanaians as well as the Ghanaian government's enhanced capacity for epidemic preparedness.

Ghanaian attendees at the ceremony included Kwabena Twum-Nuama, Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health; Minister of Health Kwaku Agyemang Manu; Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service; and representatives from stakeholder organizations.

Other participants were Owen Laws Kaluwa, World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative for Ghana; Korean Ambassador to Ghana Kim Sung-Soo; and officials from international agencies such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the World Bank Group.

Official unveiling of the GEPP Platform in AccraOfficial unveiling of the GEPP Platform in Accra

Lord Kweku Sekyi
Lord Kweku Sekyi

Western Regional CorrespondentPage: LordKwekuSekyi

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