A former Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Prof Agyeman Badu Akosa has opined that Ghana’s health sector is on the verge of collapse as a result of the seeming total neglect by the leadership of the sector.
The retired pathologist says he came to this sad conclusion following his several years of work as Director-General of the Ghana Health Service.
“No one in this country is concerned about Ghana’s health care, those in charge think they can always be flown outside when in critical condition forgetting that they have to be treated here and be in a stable condition before they would be allowed to board a plane.
“Only God is protecting people in this country…if you do not take good care of yourself and something bad happens to you, it might lead you to your death,” he told listeners of Adom FM Tuesday.
The lapses in Ghana’s healthcare system came to light after the deadly accident on the Kintampo-Tamale Highway in the Brong Ahafo region in which an estimated 71 persons perished.
Aside the lack of ambulances to convey the injured for medical attention, there was also a shortage of medical consumables to treat the injured.
At the Kintampo Municipal Hospital, the injured were treated on the bare floor of the hospital due largely to the lack of beds at the facility.
This, many health experts say, led to the high casualties recorded from the crash.
Prof Akosa further called on Ghanaians to lay all the blame at the doorsteps of persons managing the country’s health system since according to him, they have failed to pay the needed attention to the sector.
According to him, the GHS usually gets about 10% of the annual budget it presents to the Finance Ministry.
“Your budget is slashed yearly and the Ghana Health Service is only given 10% of what they demand so at the beginning of the year, you don’t get the required money you hoped to work with and what can you achieve…?” he queried.
To him, without the requisite resources, Directors of Health will always fail.
He counselled Ghanaian leaders to work to better the health care system of the country to help save lives and also cut down on the number of Ghanaians sent abroad in times of emergencies.
“I don’t want to remind certain families and Ghanaians of pain, but imagine how we could have helped save the life of one of our former Vice Presidents who passed way,” he said.
Prior to the May 9th, 2001 disaster in which 129 soccer fans lost their lives, Prof Badu Akosa said the country only had ambulances which can be likened to taxi cabs since they lacked the necessary emergency equipment an ambulance should contain.
He said the May 9th Investigation Committee, which he was part of, was the one that recommended that the country gets ambulances which meet the international standards.
“Even with that, they later imported some to 37 but still that did not meet required standards…Ghanaians do not want to learn and would not want to know either…people act according to what they plan to do and want no inputs,” he said.
Prof Badu Akosa said 15 years after the disaster, the committee members are set to meet and deliberate on their recommendations then and examine the extent to which they have been implemented.
Source: adomonline.com
