The second phase will be the actual construction of 88 district hospitals
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA), while commending the government for its 111 hospitals project has advised government to focus on enforcing the preventive COVID-19 protocols.
Dr. Frank Ankobea, President of the Association, has explained that this measure will prevent the hospitals from being overwhelmed with patients after its completion.
Speaking to Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he said: “Strengthening the system is good. Human resource development is also good but we should also look at the preventive aspect. Take for example the Covid situation and how it is spreading. If we don’t use the preventive technique, the hospitals will again be overwhelmed. So, the simple handwashing, and social distancing to prevent so many people from going to the hospital must be followed.
As we speak now because the covid numbers are increasing, all our attention has been on the covid to the detriment of other illness. Now Marburg and Ebola are in Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea but if we follow the protocols, we are sure to be safe because we will be breaking transmission. We should prevent people from going to the hospital”.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ankobea has expressed readiness on the part of all medical officers to work in these hospitals yet to be built.
The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said that the government will begin the construction of hospitals under the “Agenda 111 project” on Tuesday, August 17, 2021.
The entire project includes 111 district hospitals, seven new regional hospitals, two additional mental health hospitals to be located in the middle and southern belts, and the redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, first announced the project in April 2020 during his eighth update on COVID-19.
Presenting the 2021 mid-year budget review in Parliament on Thursday, July 29, 2021, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, also disclosed that the government had decided to execute the initiative in two phases, with the first phase being the processes completed.
The second phase, he said, was the actual construction of 88 district hospitals.