Clearance of antiretroviral drugs: Minority urges government to put in measures to avert delays

Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaboso who doubles as the ranking member on the Health Committee of Ghana’s Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has urged the government to put measures in place to deal with delays in the clearance of drugs at the ports.

The Juaboso MP said this when commenting on an announcement by the Ministry of Health that the anti-retroviral drugs which were stuck at the port since July 2023 over its alleged inability to pay import duties, have finally been cleared.

He cautioned that such a situation must not repeat itself.

“The most important thing is that we must put measures in place to avoid these unnecessary delays. That must not happen again".

"And they have also not said anything about some of the issues that we raised in our press releases. It is about donors giving us money. Instead of our government showing commitment to get this money, we have been losing this money…So we have to be up and doing.” He said

Meanwhile, Mr. Akandoh has described the decision by Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to have its Renal Unit closed since May 2023 as “unconscionable and sheer wickedness.”

According to him, the move was insensitive and indicative of the incompetence of the people manning the country’s health sector.

Mr. Akandoh maintained that the Health Minister reneged on his assurance to reopen the unit when the Minority paid a courtesy call on him and that the Caucus will not relent until the unit is reopened to the public.