The Medical Laboratory Professional Workers Union ((MELPWU), has hinted that the government of Ghana has advanced plans to privatise the laboratory service with the European Government without engaging its members.
According to the union, the initiative, if taken, could cause a financial burden to ordinary citizens as laboratory services will be more expensive to offer.
“We are calling on the government not to try and privatise medical laboratory services in Ghana. We are aware of the ongoing engagement with the government and the European Government of such a ‘Public Private Partnership arrangement with the Medical Laboratory Service’, What we want the government to know is that it is not a good deal.”
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Daybreak Upper East Show on May 5, 2023, regarding their conditions of service, the Secretary and the Chairman of MELPW in the Upper East Region both noted that if the deal goes through, the burden will be on ordinary Ghanaians.
“A private man is a private man and will like to maximise profit, so, it will not serve the people of Ghana right if it goes through with the Eurobond on the PPP arrangement”, Nyame Abu Boateng, the Secretary, noted.
He explained further that in the public health sector, most of them “are operating under the bundle service system based on the Ghana Health Insurance Scheme, but now if such a step is taken, you can imagine the burden on Ghanaians.”
They, therefore, called on the government to rather look at ways to improve and resource the laboratory services to be more effective than privatise them.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Ghana
