The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, on Monday, said the government will this year take delivery of about 275 new ambulances for use in all the districts across the country.
He said the procurement of the ambulances is factored into the one constituency, one million dollars agenda promised by the government, and was meant “to ensure that each district has at least one ambulance”.
The Minister lamented that for the past eight years, the nation’s ambulance stock, which was supposed to have been increased and maintained yearly had not been augmented, stressing “even those which had already been purchased were not operational, money has already been paid but we cannot use them”. “We are still talking about how to address this outstanding problem”, he added.
Mr Agyeman-Manu said this at a Cocktail Party organised by the Ansu Ababio Paediatric Centre (AAPC) of the Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital to solicit for funds for its Sick Kids Fund.
He said already tender had been entered for the supply of 15 more ambulances for the sector Ministry with plans for 200 additional ambulances, 50 more through a grant and a final 30 later in the course of the year.
“We want to build the ambulance stock for the country”, he stated.
The Minister said that after consultations with some senior medical officers, there were plans by government to decentralise the work of teaching hospitals in the country.
He stated that Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital had been selected for upgrade to become a small teaching hospital for graduates of the medical school for their internship and housemanship.
“During the course of the year, these interns would be announced, some of them would be sent to the AAPC”, he added.
He urged health personnel to intensify public education on public health issues to prevent the loss of lives and called on members of the public who have not yet registered on the health insurance scheme, with an emphasis on parents to register their wards.
Mr Agyeman-Manu promised to support health facilities nationwide including the AAPC in every way he can, including leading efforts to provide a Paediatric ambulance for the Centre.
He encouraged individuals and organisations to donate to the fund and not to leave the government to solely shoulder these responsibilities.
Source: citifmonline.com