NGO donates equipment to two hospitals.

Accra, Jan. 29 GNA - The Mother and Child Foundation (MCF), an Accra-based nongovernmental organisation (NGO) on Thursday donated medical equipment to the Suhum and Bole Government Hospitals at a ceremony in Accra.

Suhum Government Hospital received a Toyota Land Cruiser Ambulance and two wheel chairs while Bole Hospital received 12 hospital beds donated to the NGO by the Stop AIDS Foundation of Japan (SAFJ). Mrs Theresa Kufuor, First Lady and Patron of the Foundation, who presented keys of the ambulance to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) did not disclose the cost of the equipment.

She advised the beneficiaries to ensure regular maintenance of the equipment to prolong their life span and pledged the Foundation's commitment to assist other hospitals and institutions in the health sector.

Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director General of the GHS, who received the equipment on behalf of the beneficiary institutions, said the ambulance would be maintained and manned by a para-medical team to be trained by the St. John's Ambulance Group.

Professor Akosa said the ambulance was given to Suhum Government Hospital because of the high rate of accidents on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

He said Kibi and Nkawkaw Hospitals already had ambulances. The Director General said 3,000 accidents occurred along the road around Suhum in 2001 and increased to 3,500 in 2002, making it the highest in the country.