This is just preposterous!

THE report of a six-year-old boy losing his life due to the unavailability of an ambulance at St. Martins Hospital at Agomanya in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region must indeed send chills down the spine of anyone who read about the story as reported in some sections of the media.

For us at Today, the untimely death of the young boy is very regrettable. WE are sad because, the precious life of the six-year-old could have been saved had there been an ambulance available at the St. Martins Hospital to convey him to the country’s premier hospital—Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH). May his soul rest in peace!

AS we commiserate with the bereaved family over their loss, there is a bigger and even more worrying picture to the whole unfortunate incident. According to a report carried in our edition of yesterday, [Monday, September 04, 2017], beyond the fact that the hospital [St. Martins Hospital] did not have an ambulance, the truth of the matter is that the entire Lower Manya Krobo has been without an ambulance. This problem, understandably, has existed for several months as the only ambulance within the municipality had broken down.

THIS indeed was confirmed by the Lower Manya Municipal Health Director, Dr. Akosua Owusu Sarpong, who stressed that the situation was even more distressing.

THE said report continued that the lack of an ambulance within the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality has been compelling families with sick patients in critical condition and in need of emergency healthcare to resort to the services of commercial vehicles.

OBVIOUSLY, the lack of an ambulance in an entire municipality is worrying news. The municipality cannot continue to lose lives which could easily have been saved with interventions like ambulance service. No wonder we are being told that the municipality has been recording several deaths because they lack a stand-by ambulance in cases of emergency to carry patients in timely manner for critical attention.

IT is in the light of the above that Today is making a passionate appeal to the ministry of health to urgently go to the aid of residents of Lower Manya District. This is even critical, especially when several appeals made by the Municipal Health Director to the government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) among others have left the situation the same.

TODAY hopes that the death of the 6-year-old boy following the absence of an ambulance in the municipality, unfortunate as it is, would quicken steps and enable the powers-that-be to consider as a matter of urgency to provide the people of Lower Manya municipality with at least one ambulance to cater for emergencies.