GHS admits inadequate equipment for training in biomedical engineering is a challenge

The Director of Health Administration and Support Services (HASS) of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Ebo Hammond, has admitted that one of the biggest challenges to healthcare delivery in Ghana, with respect to biomedical services is inadequate equipment for training.

He explained that while biomedical engineering in Ghana has been around for some three decades, it has been challenged by the limited equipment to support the training of its professionals.

He, however, expressed joy at the support that the GIZ-Ghana is giving to them, through the launch of the Upskilling Biomedical Engineers for Ghana Project.

Dr. Ebo Hammond is hopeful that with this new partnership, major transformation will be brought to address the challenge the country has faced in training its engineers in this respect.

“Biomedical engineering in Ghana is just about 30 years and most of the time when we had to train our students, they had to be sent outside Ghana, but fortunately, we now have localised it. But the challenge that we have had with the training of biomedical engineers is that it’s been more of classroom training.

“Even though they have some equipment, but not state-of-the-art equipment. So, you have cases where the students come out but you can see that practically, they are deficient. So, this partnership is from the German government, through GIZ, is supposed to even change the curriculum of the universities, so it actually means we are trying to solve the problem from the top,” he explained.

Dr. Holger Till, Team Leader – Ghana Health Team of GIZ-Ghana, explained the basis for this project, adding that it will improve on the quality of biomedical engineering experts in the country.

“So why this project? We at GIZ through the funding programme develoPPP, are working together with our partners to contribute to SDG 3 on good health and wellbeing, and SDG 4 on quality education. We are specifically working together with the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, academic institutions, and other development partners, on this new project - 'Upskilling Biomedical Engineers for Ghana', implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“We seek to help infuse more practical content into the curricula of two public universities - Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and University of Ghana. The project will provide training to promote further professional skills development for Biomedical Engineers. This will improve on the quality of biomedical engineering experts that we have in the country; it will help to promote more innovative solutions that enhance the efficiency of the technologies already in use. This will in turn, improve the lives of patients living with various conditions in a variety of ways. And by doing this, we will be helping to shape a future worth living around the world. That is GIZ's vision,” he stated.

Watch him speak about it below:

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