Hackman Owusu-Agyeman (middle), Joseph Boahen Adu (left) interacting with staff of the clinic
Board Chairman of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, has indicated the need for the various cocoa clinics nationwide to be redeveloped.
Mr Owusu-Agyeman was speaking during a familiarisation tour embarked upon by board members of the Cocobod to the Ghana Cocoa Clinic headquarters yesterday in Accra.
He indicated that government would through Cocobod take steps to “completely redevelop the clinics to make them modern.”
The board chairman did not give a definite timeline for the commencement of the redevelopment project, but said modernising the clinics to enable them to provide quality healthcare is high on the agenda of Cocobod.
The various clinics are located in Kumasi, Accra, Debiso, Tema and Tafo, and there is another one being put up in Takoradi in the Western Region.
He said it was important that the Accra Cocoa Clinic which is the headquarters built in 1972, for instance, is redeveloped to become the centre of excellence in health delivery.
“Our focus is quality healthcare to support the nation’s health agenda,” the board chairman, who was in the company of Chief Executive of Cocobod, Joseph Boahen Adu, said.
Mr Owusu-Agyeman stressed that the challenges facing the clinics ought to be addressed to enable it to deliver quality health services.
The Director of Health at the Ghana Cocoa Clinic in Accra, Jerry Owusu Ansah, who briefed board members of Cocobod during the tour, explained that congestion, lack of vehicles, medical software defects and delays in the procurement process for drugs were some of the key challenges confronting the clinics.
He said the clinic which was formed initially to meet the health needs of cocoa workers is today serving about 182,000 patients, majority of whom are non-cocoa workers from the clinic’s catchment areas like Kaneshie, Bubuashie, among others.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Cocobod stated that “it’s important that we develop all these facilities.”
BY Melvin Tarlue