Vice-President Bawumia inaugurates infectious disease centre
The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has inaugurated an infectious disease treatment centre at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.
Originally conceived in 2014 at the height of the Ebola crisis, the resumption of work on the 25-bed facility, which also houses a command centre to coordinate the activities of isolation centres across the country, and a Health Surveillance Unit, began in April 2019 and was completed after 10 months at the cost of GH¢4.8 million.
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Addressing the gathering of military, health and government officials last Wednesday, Dr Bawumia underscored the government’s determination to provide essential logistics and infrastructure to meet the nation’s health needs.
“As you are aware, work on this facility began even before the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ghana. This government has initiated, in less than four years, 843 projects in the health sector, with 475 of them completed, while the rest are ongoing.
“We have also introduced a lot of initiatives in the health sector, such as the use of drones to deliver essential medical supplies. We now have four drone centres operational, and during this COVID-19 crises, 2,500 samples have been delivered by drones,” he stated.
Dr Bawumia said the commitment to improve access to healthcare remained unwavering and appealed for more time to do more.
Maintenance
The Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, expressed confidence that the facility would be put to good use, adding that “we can be sure that years later, this facility will remain in good shape due to the culture of maintenance in the finest traditions of the military”.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, disclosed that a number of health facilities would be completed this year, including the Bekwai, Fomena and Kumawu hospitals.
“Never in the history of this country has so many resources been invested in healthcare in such a short time. This is, indeed, a sure sign of the government’s commitment to ensuring the provision of healthcare for its people,” he stated.
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Other facility
Ghana has an infectious disease centre financed by the private sector, with the support of the government, at the Ga East Municipal Hospital.
There is also another eight-bed intensive care unit at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Referral Hospital, Sekondi, which could also be used as an infectious disease centre.