The Coalition of NGOs in Health is worried about whether the government still has the financial wherewithal to complete all the 111 hospitals under the much-touted Agenda 111. The worry comes on the back of the serious economic dump the country is currently faced with.
According to the Coalition, even more worrying is the fact that the government has not been transparent about the source of funding for the grand agenda.
This came to light when the Upper East Regional Coordinator for the NGOs in Health, Patrick Namoo spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
“Our challenge is about the economic situation that we are facing now and the source of funding for this project. We always partner government in ensuring that health delivery is the best for citizens. We can also say that as a Coalition, our available to support the government”.
“It is a government project. We are looking at commitment; it should not be a talk show. What has begun must come to an end. Once government has committed funds to it, they must make sure that we do not waste the taxpayers’ money,” he said.
Mr. Namoo opined that looking at the economic downturn, the government could have considered expanding and strengthening the already health facilities in most places rather than being fixated on building totally new ones.
“What we had in mind was to look at the current hospitals vis-a-vis the availability of resources; the equipment and the human resource, whether that is adequate. So we are looking at how we can resource the already existing hospitals and health facilities to be able to take on the health situation at the moment”.
“The question is how many hospitals or health centres do we have? Are they resourced enough? Are they up to expectation? The patient-health worker ratio, is it something that is commendable? If that is done, then we can now look at bringing more health facilities,” he said.
Mr. Namoo said the Coalition would follow the construction of the hospitals closely. He said where questions need to be asked, it would ask and ensure that government responses to help paint a clearer pciture.
Meanwhile, barring any unforeseen circumstances, construction work on Bolgatanga East’s share of government’s Agenda 111 would be completed as scheduled; 18 months after construction begins.
This is according to the District Chief Executive for the Area, David Amoah. He said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
Mr. Amoah indicated that the two contractors; the main contractor and a sub-contractor, have been working earnestly to get the facility in shape. He said the initial land-related issues have been peacefully resolved paving way for the construction to finish.
Seven Districts in the Upper East Region are expected to benefit from the government’s Agenda 111. They are Garu, Tempane, Pusiga, Binduri, Kassena-Nankana West, Nabdam, Bolgatanga East and Builsa South Districts.
A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
