Coronavirus has given us an opportunity to expand health infrastructure - Majority Leader

Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has suggested the outbreak of the coronavirus has exposed the deficit in health infrastructure of the country and at the same time, provided us with an opportunity to close the gaps.

The legislator who is also the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs told Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm that the decision by the government to construct 88 new district hospitals and six new regional hospitals within a year is not a political gimmick as opined by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mr Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu said we are faced with a health crisis that calls for a drastic approach and initiatives to help resolve the crisis.

President Akufo-Addo stated during his eighth Coronavirus address to the nation recorded and broadcast on TV that his administration would construct 88 district hospitals and 6 new regional hospitals.

Akufo-Addo indicated that each, of these district hospitals “will be a quality, standard-design, one hundred bed hospital, with accommodation for doctors, nurses and other health workers, and the intention is to complete them within a year.”

“We have also put in place plans for the construction of six new regional hospitals in the six new regions, and the rehabilitation of the EffiaNkwanta Hospital, in Sekondi, which is the regional hospital of the Western Region.

“We are going to beef up our existing laboratories and establish new ones across every region for testing. We will establish three infectious disease control centres for each of the zones of our country, i.e. Coastal, Middle belt and Northern, with the overall objective of setting up a Ghana Centre for Disease Control,” he promised.

He has been widely criticised for his plan with some saying it is unachievable.

However, Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu has disagreed stressing this is an opportunity for the nation to expand its health infrastructure.

"This is a good opportunity for us to expand our health infrastructure. It is unwise to politicise this,” he said.