Ghana has further upped its technological ante with its latest adoption of a digital COVID-19 passport for its travellers.
The passport which was developed by the African Union through its Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC) sees Ghana become the first country in the ECOWAS bloc to adopt the system.
Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu says the ministry through the Ghana Health Service and with support of the PanaBIOS Consortium is working assiduously to ensure COVID-19 tests are digitised in the country. He said this is for the ease of verification and clearance for as many who want to travel.
The new digitisation system is expected to curb the growing threat of fake tests seen in African countries as this hampers the fight against the pandemic.
According to the Minister, the passport will bear AU Trusted Travel and the ECOWAS-WAHO Biodata Mutual Assurance and Recognition (BIOMARS) standard which will help validate its authenticity.
Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Asky Airlines have already started issuing passports to travellers with their websites developed for the travellers to share information about their COVID-19 tests and the verification of the laboratories the tests were conducted.
The Trusted Testing Code (TTCode) is issued to laboratories approved for the testing for the presence of COVID-19 and is used to differentiate between fake and original test results.
Director of the Africa CDC, Dr. John Nkegasong said Africa needs to partner with its aviation companies to wage a better fight against the pandemic.
He noted that the scale of the challenge presented by Covid-19 demands an unprecedented level of both innovation and cooperation, which is why decisions by Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia to adopt the Trusted Travel platform marks a milestone in the continent’s ongoing fight against this pandemic’s potential to suppress Africa’s development ambitions.