The government is procuring 100 new ambulances to restock the fleet of the National Ambulance Service, President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed.
He said the Ambulance Service’s 100 broken-down ambulances could also be restored to service if the necessary spare parts were procured. "We will therefore purchase 100 new ambulances and procure the parts required to bring another 100 ambulances back into service," the President stated in his address at the 68th Annual National General Conference of the Ghana Medical Association at Miotso near Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.
The week-long meeting is on the theme: "The No Bed Syndrome: Reimagining a Befitting Emergency Response System for Ghana."
Healthcare infrastructure
The President said financial support for specialised care must be accompanied by the capacity to deliver that care within Ghana. He said the Ghana Medical Trust Fund was beginning its support for selected serious conditions, starting with cancers, while investment in specialised training and facilities would also strengthen the services patients need.
He said the cardiac catheterisation laboratory he recently commissioned at Korle Bu had increased their capacity to provide advanced cardiac care. The President said the cardiology centres under construction at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Tamale Teaching Hospital would extend access to these services when completed. He said it was unfortunate that they lost one of their medical doctors because of the lack of access to a catheterisation laboratory, adding that they were working towards having three such facilities.
President Mahama said organ transplantation was another area foundations were being laid for service development, adding that work was underway on a transplantation framework, including an organ transplantation Bill to guide the safe and ethical expansion of these services. "Issues of consent, donor protection, professional oversight and ongoing patient care require careful attention. We will draw on the expertise of the Ghana Medical Association and our specialists as this work progresses," he stated.
Major hospital projects
The President said other investments the government was making to expand access to healthcare include the completion of the 509-bed maternity and children’s block at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, which stalled because of Ghana’s debt defaults and the subsequent debt restructuring. He said the contractor was expected to remobilise to the site shortly, adding that work had started on the construction of a new 400-bed maternity and children’s block at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
"Indeed, I have been praying every night that the current block used by our mothers and children does not collapse before we complete the new one," President Mahama said. "The condition is so terrible, and we must pray that we complete the project quickly so that we can move them into the new facility."
He said other investments included the operationalisation of the Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sewua, noting that roadworks had been completed, electricity had been connected, and the pipeline to bring water to the facility was ongoing. He said when completed, the Sewua facility would help ease pressure and congestion at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
President Mahama noted that the Government had also allocated GH¢200 million in the 2027 Budget to complete the long-delayed Police Hospital expansion project, adding that this would increase the hospital’s capacity to 300 beds. He said a new 100-bed Tamale Police Hospital would open soon, while the 160-bed La General Hospital would be completed next year. He added that work would also resume next year on the Afari Military Hospital in the Ashanti Region.
"We are also packaging 35 of the Agenda 111 hospitals for completion. These are facilities that have reached at least 70 per cent completion, and we intend to re-award the contracts to ensure that they are completed," he said. He noted that the challenge had been with the existing contracts, stating that the Attorney-General’s Department was reviewing them to pave the way for the reactivation of these projects.
