In this episode of “Ghana could have been better under MAHAMA”, I would like to focus a bit on the health sector of our economy and on the back of a worrying state of our National Ambulance Services, the undue delay in the distribution of the procured ambulances by the Ministry of Special Development Initiative for the Ministry of health to the National Ambulance Service and the contributions of the MAHAMA regime in the sector.
As a country, we still have issues regarding Primary healthcare, Infant Mortality, Child Mortality, Under-5 Mortality, Maternal and Ante-natal healthcare, as well as Emergency Medical Services as per the Ghana Health and Demographic Survey report. The state of our health sector is an exact reflection of the commitment of the government of the day. The lack of a coordinated plan for the improvement in the health sector, the lack of consistent adequate level of investments to marshall the delivery of health needs of the good people of Ghana, the discontinuance of the elaborate health sector improvement programme of the MAHAMA led NDC administration and the abandonment of the numerous healthcare infrastructure in the form of: Teaching hospitals, Institutional hospitals, Regional hospitals, District hospitals, Polyclinics, Health centers and CHPS Compounds that are scattered all over the country.
Reports reaching the good people of Ghana from the National Ambulance Service indicate the precarious situation of the service regarding the fleet of ambulances in the system as over one hundred (100) vehicles have grounded without any attempt to maintain them and only fifty (50) left in operation.
All the explanations given for the continuous delay in the distribution of the packed ambulances to the various constituencies are all untenable. The President’s statement during the “meet the press” in December is weak, and smacks lack of prudence in the management of the taxpayers money. For ambulances to sit at the forecourt of the state house for more than four(4) months whiles the people are in dire need of it’s services. The least said about the statements of the Minister for Special Development Initiative in charge of the 307 ambulances project for the constituencies the better and the contradictory statement of the Minister of health and his deputy. It does not even appear from that of the C.E.O of the National Ambulance Service regarding the supposed letter that Ghanaians are in dire need of their services.
The following questions are begging for answers:
What is the vehicle maintenance policy of the Ministry of health and National Ambulance Services?,
Why can’t the existing and broken ones be fixed and Ghanaians be spared the planned unnecessary funfair in the name commissioning by the government?,
Why on earth will ambulances that are meant to complement the Emergency Medical Service provision be unduly packed at the forecourt for more than four months?,
What is the government policy on Comprehensive Emergency Medical System to tackle the various healthcare needs of the people?.
We are obliged as a country to depoliticize the health sector and genuinely contribute our quota to the growth of the sector devoid of partisanship. The health facilities neither know NDC nor NPP, the creeping partisanship by this regime is mind burgling, not withstanding the deliberate refusal to operationalize the facilities built under the MAHAMA administration using the taxpayers money.
The MAHAMA administration succeeded in achieving the following in the health sector:
-Established the National Ambulance Service training school to train Emergency Medical Technicians over the years.
-Constructed and yet to be commissioned 617-bed University of Ghana Teaching Hospital at Legon to take care of the burden on Korle Bu Teaching Hospital as a quantinary facility.
– Constructed 130-bed Maritime Hospital in Tema to augment healthcare provision in the eastern corridor.
-Reconstructed and upgraded the Ridge hospital to Greater Accra Regional Hospital to 620-bed capacity including 250-bed Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sewua and Upper West Regional Hospital at Wa.
-Over 20 District Hospital across the country under design, construction and equipping contracts.
-Over 36 Polyclinics across the then six(6) Regions in the country and Ghana could have been better under MAHAMA with additional twenty (20) in the then other four(4) Regions.
-And over two thousand eight hundred (2,800) CHPS Compounds on the ground across the country to support Public and Primary healthcare provision for the small communities and the introduction of the “ONUADOR” Mobile clinics for the National Medical Outreach Program to the underserved communities.
Ghana could have been under MAHAMA with his agenda in putting people first by ensuring quality and preventive healthcare services. We must look at sending healthcare services to the people in the communities rather than sending the people to the facilities.
Baba Abu Baseman,
A Management Consultant and Adult Educator.