President Nana Akufo-Addo has announced the arrival of the first batch ambulances for all 275 constituencies in the country.
The first batch numbering about 48, arrived in the country yesterday, Thursday.
The arrival of the ambulances is part of the fulfilment of a promise made by President Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP Government in the build-up to the 2016 general elections.
President Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP promised all 275 constituencies and one ambulance per a constituency.
The NPP also promised to revamp the ailing National Ambulance Service, which as of 2018 had only about 55 ambulances working across the country.
Nana Akufo-Addo said the rest are expected to arrive in the country next month for onward distribution to hospitals in every constituency. Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP in the run-up to the 2016 election promised to provide every constituency with an ambulance following public complaints of non-availability of ambulances in the country.
Speaking at the induction of some 378 newly trained medical doctors in Accra, President Nana-Akufo-Addo also disclosed that the next batch of ambulances will arrive in the country by the first week of October, 2019.
He also added that all 300 procured ambulances will be in the country by the end of the year.
“The first batch of 48 ambulances out of the 300 procured by my Government for distribution for each of the 275 constituency i.e 1 constituency, 1 ambulance and to the National Ambulance service has arrived in the country with the second batch due in Ghana by the first week in October, by the end of this year, they will all be in.”
Nana Akufo-Addo said his government is committed to improving the quality of health care in Ghana.
The President also used the occasion to call out media practitioners whose reportage negatively affect the strides Government is making towards improving health care delivery in the country.
“While Government is doing its utmost to improve on the health care situation, our media landscape is replete with reportage of professional negligence,” the President said.
Ghana is faced with a major health crisis that jeopardizes the lives of millions of its citizens.
The country of 29 million people only had only 55 functioning ambulances serving all ten regions as of 2018.
There was a huge public outcry coupled with what became known as the ‘no-bed syndrome’ a situation when citizens turned away from the hospital over claims that there were no beds in the hospital.
The statistics indicate that 1 ambulance is shared by over 520,000 Ghanaians.
That ratio is well above the appropriate ratios of between 1:50,000 to 1:100,000 as suggested by experts.
It is worsened by the growing burden of acute diseases in the country and rising cases of motor accidents.
55 working Ambulances not up to standard – Health Professional
Dr. Yakubu Akparibo, who is Ghana’s first and only Aerospace Medicine Specialist said the death of a patient in an ambulance due to the lack of oxygen indicates that the supposed functioning ambulances are substandard.
The health professional has called into question the quality of Ghana’s 55 functioning ambulances which serve the entire 29 million population.
He made the comment on the back of a report on the death of a pregnant woman and her baby due to the lack of oxygen in an ambulance.