The death of some students of Kumasi Academy in recent times has raised huge concerns
Former Minister of Health under the Kufuor administration, Dr. Richard Winfred Anane, has proposed that government adopt a ‘1-SHS-1-Clinic’ policy to ensure the safety of students in the second cycle institutions across the country.
According to him, the initiative will be one of the preventive measures to avert unwanted deaths in various educational institutions nationwide as the doctors will be readily available to treat any student who may fall sick.
He was speaking with Otecfm on the back of recent deaths at Kumasi Academy (KUMACA).
It has emerged the four Kumasi Academy students who died over the last few days died of H1N1 Influenza Type A popularly referred to as Swine Flu.
Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu has said 12 out of the 19 cases sent to the Noguchi Memorial Institute have tested positive for the virus.
“You know that I have a hospital and in my hospital what we do is that we give treatment to every student in the schools around the area so if anything happens we are the first person to attend to them. I have informed the President Nana Addo that we have to provide very school with a clinic or hospital so that if there is any problem the doctors can easily identify it and administer the necessary treatment before it gets out of hands,” he said.
The former MP for Bantama Nhyiaeso constituency in the Ashanti region said the government must also make sure every student subscribes to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to access free health care.
“We have national health insurance policy in the country that provides free health care, we have to make sure that every school child is registered and signed to a particular hospital so in case any disaster, the child is quickly taken there. I think this is also preventive measure we have to focus on,” he stated.
