Every district will have an ambulance before the end of 2019 - Health Minister

The Minister of Health, Kweku Agyemang Manu, has announced that government has procured a total of 275 ambulances for onward distribution to every municipal and district in the country latest June.

He said an additional 100 ambulances are also in the process of procurement to help the ambulance service meet the demands of highly populated areas. Addressing management and staff of the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital in Bawku as part of his two-day working visit to the Upper East Region, Mr. Agyemang Manu, reiterated the commitment of the health ministry to build an efficient ambulance service in the country.

He said per agreement, the ambulances have been procured by the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives under President Akufo Addo’s One Million per Constituency promise and will soon be distributed to districts, after clearance and registration, to help address the ambulance deficit.

“We are buying 275 ambulances for every district and municipality. We have finished with the procurement and we are anticipating that we will get these ambulances into the country but through clearance, registration and insurance, latest by May/June every district and municipal will receive an ambulance.” “We are also trying to procure 100 more ambulances within the year so that, some areas where we have concentration over needs will not have only one ambulance but might get a few more to further enhance service delivery,”. He said.

Mr. Agyemang Manu later visited the Bawku Presbyterian Nurses and midwifery Training School where he briefly engaged the staff and students. There, he among other things advised students to eschew irresponsible behaviours and indiscipline and focus on their studies.

He charged the students to be active campaigners against drug abuse and to report all forms of irregularities in the sale of drugs, especially Tramadol. “I don’t need to tell you why you are here. After staying here for two or three years and you go home with nothing, you will have yourselves to blame. I have spoken with the principal and she tells me the tutors are very ready to help you. So the rest is for you to work hard.

“I learnt there is high abuse of drugs in this school. It’s unfortunate but that has to stop. As nursing students, who don’t have to engage in drug abuse. You have to educate people about the dangers of abusing drugs. Educate them and tell them why they should not abuse drugs. You also have to pick intelligence about people who illegally sell certain drugs to the public and report them to the right authorities”. He admonished.

The Medical Superintendent of the Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Seidu Sukenibe, was grateful for the support the facility is enjoying from government. He however pleaded with the Minister to as a matter of urgency address challenges in the NHIA to allow for speedy payment of insurance claims.

He stated that the delay in payment of claims to the facility is greatly affecting the smooth run of the hospital which is a referral point and serving a lot of areas including neighboring Togo and Burkina Faso.