Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) has launched a real-time electronic version of the Health Declaration Form used to obtain passengers’ travel history.

The paperless health declaration form, launched in partnership with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), also provides education on the signs and symptoms in relation to COVID-19.

The partnership forms part of MPA’s agenda of mobilising science and cutting-edge technology towards sustainable development and to improve the health and well-being of the population in Ghana.

A statement issued by the MPA indicated that Mobile and Web Health Declaration Applications were developed to replace the paper-based version that was used prior to the closure of the country’s borders.

“The app makes it possible for passengers to conveniently fill the Form while its decision support algorithms and analytics help the Port Health team to speed up decision-making and follow-ups.

“Additionally, all passengers will have their temperatures screened through the MPA Porthealth Thermocheck booths,” the statement noted.

The systems were deployed at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) when it was reopened on 1 September 2020 as directed by President Akufo-Addo in his 16th COVID-19 address to the nation on Sunday, 30 August 2020.

According to the statement, travelers can access the Health Declaration app on their mobile phones, tablets or computers through the Ghana Health Service website using the link https:/www.ghs-hdf.org/hdf/.

The Executive Director of Millennium Promise Alliance, Chief Nathaniel Ebo Nsarko intimated that the technological innovation was borne out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID 19 has ushered in a lot of homegrown ideas and domesticated technological advancements of which I’m grateful to God to have been useful in such a competitive era together with my MPA team.

“The project has added a boost to Ghana’s preparedness to open its airports for international flights. I am very proud to leverage our long-standing partnership with the Ghana health Service to bring this project to life,” he said.

He added that “due to COVID-19, technology is being deployed at such a dizzying pace in recent months that it has transformed our world in ways that we least imagined. Coming up with this innovative idea started out to be difficult, if not impossible — and almost certainly up for fierce debate as we have always believed in foreigners than ourselves”.

“Nevertheless, we gave it a shot and here we are..., purely Ghanaian but of international standards; proudly Ghanaian,” he added.

Millennium Promise Alliance (MPA) is an international NGO with a vision to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger, and preventable diseases, especially in deprived communities.