Board of quasi-health institutions inaugurated
The Governing Board of the Ghana Association of Quasi-Government Heath Institutions (GAQHI) was yesterday inaugurated in Accra. It is the first time the 20-year-old association has a governing board.
The 16-member board is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, with the Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Michael A Luguje; the Medical Director of the Bank Hospital, Dr Charlotte Osafo; the Managing Director of the Ghana Post Company Limited, Bice Osei Kuffuor, and the Registrar of the University of Ghana, Emelia Agyei-Mensah, as members.
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Others are the Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Professor Samuel B. Dampare; a representative of the Ministry of Health, Dr Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt; the Vice-Chancellor of the Takoradi Technical University, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun; the Commander of the 37 Military Hospital, Brigadier General Nii Adjah Obodai, and the Medical Director of the Police Hospital, Commissioner of Police (COP) Dr Ebenezer Ewusi Emim.
The rest are a former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Prof. Agyemang Badu Akosa; the President of GAQHI, Dr Kabiru Koredele Azeez; a representative of the founding fathers of GAQHI, Dr Moses Maclean Abnory; a representative of past presidents of GAQHI, Dr F. Kofi Asiedu; the Vice-President of the association, Dr Vitus Victor Anaab-Bisi, and the General Secretary of GAQHI, Chief Maxwell Tidow.
Institutions
The quasi-government health institutions (QGHIs) are health facilities operated by state-owned organisations whose core mandate is not only healthcare delivery.
The GAQHI comprises 54 organisations, with over 400 health facilities.
Collaboration
The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, who inaugurated the board, urged QGHIs to collaborate with public health facilities to share skills and resources.
“Talk of radiologists, anaesthetists and imaging equipment: some of your facilities have them. We need to team up with you to see how we can improve on our data collection and analyses to come up with more efficient health indicators in the country,” he said.
Mr Agyeman-Manu expressed concern over the massive encroachment of lands of public health facilities, saying his outfit was collaborating with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Lands Commission and metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to stop the development of those lands.
“The Pantang Hospital seems to be the worst affected at the moment. The Cape Coast Hospital, the Tema General Hospital and even the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which have managed to protect their lands to some extent, all face the problem of encroachment,” he said.
The President of GAQHI, Dr Azeez, said the inauguration of the board would deepen collaboration between the association and the Health Ministry.
He said the association would continue to ensure quality and effective supervision of health facilities under its ambit.
Appreciation
On behalf of the members, Prof. Akosa expressed appreciation for the confidence reposed in them and advised the association to compile a credible national database.
For instance, he said, it could compile data to show trends in diseases such as hypertension and kidney failure for the necessary interventions.