The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on Thursday handed over a GH¢4.8m ultra-modern infectious diseases treatment centre at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra.
Originally conceived in 2014 at the height of the Ebola crisis, 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 completed after 10 months.
Addressing a gathering of military, health and government officials at the ceremony, the Vice President underscored the government’s determination to provide essential logistics and infrastructure to meet the nation’s health care needs.
“As you are aware, work on this facility began even before the outbreak of the 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,” he said.
Dr Bawumia said the government had 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 crisis, 2,500 samples have been delivered by drones. Our commitment to improving access to health care remains unwavering, and with your support, we will have even more time to do more,” the Vice President added.
The Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, who received the centre from the government on behalf of the hospital authorities, said he was confident the facility would be put to good use, “and in the finest traditions of the military, we can be sure years later that this facility would remain in good shape due to the culture of maintenance.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, who represented the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, 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 much resource been invested in health care 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,” Dr Okoe Boye stated.
By Times Reporter
