Our leaders travel abroad and leave us to die in our broken health system - Hardi Yakubu

Fighter General of the Economic Fighters League, Hardi Yakubu has underscored the need for the country to interrogate Ghana’s dilapidated health infrastructure, and what he has termed a broken health system caused by years of woeful under-investment in the health sector.

He premised his concern over the decision to airlift Finance Minister-designate Ken Ofori-Atta to the United States to seek medical care following post-covid-19 complications.

He quizzed the number of Ghanaians who would be able to afford to fly out of the country to seek medical care like the Minister-designate.

“How many citizens have the ability to fly out of Ghana for advanced medical treatment? In fact how many can even afford the wobbly health system we have in Ghana when poverty rears its head high across the country?

When you and I are sick, we have no option but to patronise the hospitals, clinics etc that have been deliberately help to rot. Hospitals without doctors, drugs or health care equipment, pregnant women delivered on the floor, no beds for patients.”

“When the Communities Facilities Report was released by the Ghana Statistical Service, it was revealed that only 24% of rural communities had a clinic, CHPS or health post while just 3% had a hospital. Less than 10% had nurses, less than 2% had pharmacists and ONLY 1% had doctors.

And our public officials have the presence of mind to fly themselves and their families out at our expense when they need treatment. And when they return, they continue to watch people die from the most basic of ailments.

We must bring down this anti-human system before it kills us all. We need a better system where priority will be given to everybody’s necessities rather than the luxuries of a few.”

As at 2017, Upper West region had just 56 doctors for a population of 800k people while Upper East was even worse with just 46 for a population of 1.2 million people.

Minister of Finance develops complications and is taken out for treatment. We wish him well in his recovery.

We must however interrogate the phenomenon of non-existent and dilapidated health infrastructure, a broken health system caused by years of woeful under-investment in the health sector.

How many citizens have the ability to fly out of Ghana for advanced medical treatment? In fact how many can even afford the wobbly health system we have in Ghana when poverty rears its head high across the country?

When you and I are sick, we have no option but to patronise the hospitals, clinics etc that have been deliberately help to rot. Hospitals without doctors, drugs or health care equipment, pregnant women delivered on the floor, no beds for patients.

What is this?

When the Communities Facilities Report was released by the Ghana Statistical Service, it was revealed that only 24% of rural communities had a clinic, CHPS or health post while just 3% had a hospital. Less than 10% had nurses, less than 2% had pharmacists and ONLY 1% had doctors.

And our public officials have the presence of mind to fly themselves and their families out at our expense when they need treatment. And when they return, they continue to watch people die from the most basic of ailments.

We must bring down this anti-human system before it kills us all. We need a better system where priority will be given to everybody’s necessities rather than the luxuries of a few.