Parliament has approved €18.8 million loan to procure an additional 112 ambulances for the National Ambulance Service to improve health care delivery in the country.

The loan agreement is between the government of Ghana represented by the Finance Ministry and the Deustche Bank AG, Frankfurt Main.

In his presentation of the report, the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah disclosed that the approval of the facility for the supply of 112 ambulances for the National Ambulance Service will go a long way to improve the healthcare delivery in the country.

“The Committee was informed that the country needs in excess of one thousand ambulances to be able to provide pre-hospital care and handle inter-facility transfer. This is why the country has distributed three hundred and seven ambulances and is committed to provide additional 112 for the National ambulance.

“The committee has carefully considered the agreement and is of the view that the provision of the ambulances will go a long way to improve the country’s emergency response capabilities. The committee therefore recommends to the House to adopt this report and approve the credit facility agreement between the government of Ghana and Deutsche Bank AG with an amount of €18,815,000 to finance the supply of the 112 ambulances and related training and maintenance services in accordance with the constitution”.

Conversely, Richard Acheampong, a member on the Finance Committee from the minority, lauding the activities of the committee, expressed his chagrin over the unequal distribution of ambulance to the various constituencies.

Calling for adequate funding of the National Ambulance Service, he cited some challenges in accessibility where patients in critical conditions are required to pay money, a trait he reckons to be to the detriment of vulnerable patients.

“As the chairman stated, we all need ambulance service in this country and last year, the ministry supplied 307 ambulance. The impression was created that every constituency was to receive one ambulance, but as I speak Tamale South did not receive an ambulance when we took delivery of the 307. So, if the report is saying we need to provide about 1000 ambulances in the country and already we’ve supplied 307 and we are about procuring 112, it brings the total fleet of 419 ambulances in the system. So, if you even take it from the 1000 as required, still there is a deficit of 581 that will be needed in the country. So, we have a long way to go as a country”.

Dr. Kwabena Twum Nuamah, the chairman of Parliament’s Health Committee, on the other hand congratulated government on the procurement of additional ambulances.

Additionally, he noted that, there are currently two bills before parliament, when once approved will resolve the teething challenges within the National Ambulance Service.

The approval, he indicated, will provide dedicated funding to the Ambulance service to address the issue of funding.

“I want to put on record that ambulances are free in the country; the ones that are provided by the state are supposed to be free and that is the law. So, any situation where people require fuel or payment I should say are illegal, but we are not oblivious of the challenges that are faced by the ambulance services because of funding”.