The deadly virus caught the world so unawares that countries are struggling to procure enough ventilators and other wquipment to treat those who are critically ill of the virus and require intensive care.
The college held a demonstration exercise to showcase the ventilator having brought on board the Ghana Health Service (GHS) as well as the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to ensure the highest standards are met.
Professor Mark Adom-Asamoah, who is the Provost of the Engineering College said in an interview that the project needs to be fully developed to help patients who might need such assistance to breathe.
According to the provost, less expensive materials and technology were used in building the portable ventilator, which makes it a better choice.
Most ventilators cost about $15,000 which is about GHC 75,000, so with this success, Ghana may not have to depend on other countries for ventilators.
According to Yen.com.gh, although the average cost of the home-made ventilators when fully developed has not been disclosed, it is thought that it would be a far cheaper alternative for use both in Ghana and outside.
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The ventilator which is a collaborative work between the College’s Computer Engineering Department and Michigan Technological University is currently in the advanced stages of development.
The ventilator is not the only indigenous innovation that has emerged. Among other amazing ingenuities that have made news headlines, a Ghanaian taxi driver simply identified as Joe is said to have created a hand-washing invention for passengers to help avoid the spread of COVID-19 in the car.
The device works automatically without any form of contact with the hand.
What’s even more amazing about Joe’s creativity is the fact that despite his low level of education, he has made what not even many professors would have thought about. He did not make it to high school.
Ghanaians are more than capable of running shoulders with others on the global level in terms of inventions and so on, all that is required is the identification of those talents and investing in them.