President presents 10,000 beds to Ministry of Health
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Tuesday presented 10,000 beds and accessories to the Ministry of Health for distribution to hospitals across the country.
The presentation is part of government’s strategy under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) to adequately resource and improve on existing health infrastructure in the country for effective healthcare delivery.
In total, 1,500 pieces of critical care beds with overhead tables; 2,000 pieces of standard hospital beds with bedside lockers; 4,000 pieces of health centre beds with bedside lockers; 1,000 pieces of children’s cot; and 1,500 pieces of delivery beds are to be distributed to all 275 constituencies across the country.
At a short ceremony at the Airforce Base at Burma Camp in Accra, the President said that it was disconcerting to see patients being treated in wheel chairs, in plastic chairs, and on the floors because of the unavailability of beds in the hospitals.
Thus, government, in the determination to see an end to the no-bed syndrome at the country’s health facilities, procured the beds.
President Akufo-Addo was optimistic that the items would contribute effectively to an efficient national health care delivery, adding that the customised beds would maximise comfort for patients.
“These beds will allow for better movement of patients, as well as periodic change to the pressure points on the body, thereby, improving the patient’s blood circulation whilst she/he is in bed,” he indicated.
The President urged users and hospital staff to take good care of the beds “which have come at significant cost to the taxpayer”.
He emphasized “with four more years for Nana and the NPP, we will do more for you, because we are motivated by a vision of ensuring that the basic infrastructure in education, health and social services is equitably distributed throughout our nation, to provide relief and encouragement to all sectors of our society.”
“That is how we build a united Ghana,” he said.
President told the gathering that the implementation of IPEP, a promise the NPP made in the run up to the 2016 election to tackle infrastructural development and eradicate poverty in deprived communities, with flagship programmes such the One Village, One Dam had began yielding the needed dividends.
“One of the fruits of this policy was seen by all Ghanaians in February this year, when I commissioned and distributed 307 state of the art ambulances, i.e. one ambulance per constituency, and the remaining 32 to the National Ambulance Service.”
“Thus far, these ambulances, the President indicated,” have been of immense help to ensuring an effective Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system, and improving our country’s emergency response capabilities,” he said.
The President disclosed that the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives, which was implementing IPEP, together with the Coastal, Middle Belt and Northern Development Authorities had undertaken significant projects across the country.
These institutions, he said, had so far seen to the construction of 1,000 community water systems; 1,000 public and institutional water closet toilets; 50 prefabricated grain warehouses; 560 small earth dams; 50 rural and peri-urban markets; 26 clinics with bungalows for the medical staff; and 5,014 constituency specific projects.
Source: GNA