GT Bank Board Chairman pledges support to College of Health Sciences

Accra, Oct. 21, GNA - Alhaji Yusif Ibrahim, Board Chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank (GT Bank), has promised to build and donate a Central Administration Block at the University of Ghana, Legon, to the College of Health Sciences.

Alhaji Ibrahim, who is also Chairman of Dar Es Salam Group of Companies, said the GT Bank would play a leading role in the construction of a School of Biomedical Sciences and Postgraduate Research as well as a Teaching Hospital complex to be sited at the University of Ghana Campus in Legon. A statement signed by Mr Perry P. K. Ofosu, Assistant Registrar (Public Affairs) on Tuesday, said the promise was made at the just ended three-day Second Annual Scientific Conference of the College in Accra, where the Bank donated 10,000 Ghana Cedis and promised to sponsor subsequent Annual Scientific conferences of the College. According to the statement, Alhaji Ibrahim had been in close contact with a number of business interests who had shown tremendous interest in the projects.

The statement said the College of Health Sciences was made up of seven institutions - the University of Ghana Medical School; University of Ghana Dental School; School of Allied Health Sciences; School of Pharmacy; Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research; School of Nursing and the School of Public Health.

It said four Schools under the College - University of Ghana Medical School; the Dental School; the School of Allied Health Sciences and the newly established School of Pharmacy - had been temporarily housed in Korle Bu for years and efforts to relocate them had failed due to financial constraints. Prof. Aaron Lawson, Provost of the College, further explained that the project would enable the College to produce between 800 and 1,000 Biomedical Scientists both at the basic and the Para Clinical level per year.

He said the trained students of the College would then be absorbed by the various medical schools to continue with their clinical training. Prof. Lawson said the system would help increase the intake of students and also reduce the burden of the various medical schools in training at the basic sciences level where lecturers had been woefully inadequate.

"It would provide countries in the sub-region the opportunity to use the facility for the same purpose and this would undoubtedly bring foreign exchange to help maintain the facility," he said. Prof. Lawson said currently Korle Bu Teaching Hospital complex was choked and overstretched, making it impossible to increase intake of students. He said the new Teaching Hospital would have specialised facilities that would provide teaching facilities for undergraduates and postgraduates as well.