President Akufo Addo
President Akufo Addo says plans are far advanced for the construction of 101 districts hospitals in districts with no hospital.
“There are one hundred and one districts in our country without district hospitals; we have six new regions without regional hospitals; and we do not have infectious disease control centres dotted across the country. Government is doing something about it, and, that is why, shortly, the construction of the 101 hospitals in the districts without hospitals will start,” he said at the sod cutting ceremony for the construction of regional hospital in Koforidua on Wednesday.
The President continued, “It will mean that the eight districts in this region currently without hospitals, namely Akyemansa, Asene/Manso/Akroso, Asuogyaman, Atiwa, Ayensuano, Birim South, Kwahu Afram Plains South, and Upper West Akyem will see the construction of district hospitals. Each of the hospitals will be a quality, standard-design, one hundred-bed hospital, with accommodation for doctors, nurses and other health workers.”
President Akufo-Addo indicated that the outbreak of COVID-19 has revealed the unequal distribution of healthcare facilities Ghana, as the nation has tended to focus its infrastructure on Accra and one or two of the other big cities. But, as we have seen, epidemics and pandemics, when they emerge, can spread to any part of our country.
In addition to these, the President noted that Government has also put in place plans for the construction of six new regional hospitals in the six new regions, the rehabilitation of Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in Sekondi, and the construction of a new regional hospital for the Western Region.
“Indeed, Government is committed to modernising all other major hospitals across the country, so they can deliver quality healthcare for our people, and help Ghana become, also, an attractive destination for medical tourism in the Region,” he stressed.
Thanking the Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Oti Boateng, for the gift of the land on which the hospital will stand, he assured the gathering that “this project is a sign of greater things to come to Koforidua, the Eastern Region and, indeed, for the whole nation. Government’s commitment to the total development of Ghana is absolute.”