President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reemphasized the commitment of his government to completing the “Agenda 111” Hospital Project.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the project, whose sod he cut in August 2021, had thus far seen eighty-six (86) district hospitals, two (2) regional psychiatric hospitals, and the Western Regional Hospital, all at various completion levels.
Speaking at the commissioning of the St. Michael’s Specialist Hospital, on Saturday, 30th September 2023, at Abeka Lapaz, the President indicated that the average project completion is about 52%.
“The average completion rate of the eighty-nine (89) ongoing projects is fifty-two percent (52%), with work at some of the sites being seventy to eighty percent complete.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Nana Addo also mentioned that the project was being undertaken by indigenous contractors, hence providing jobs directly and indirectly to country folks.
Furthermore, he indicated that the project will even provide more jobs upon its completion.
“There is an average number of one hundred and twenty (120) workers on each construction site, and, when completed, an average of five hundred and forty-nine (549) persons will be employed in a district hospital, one thousand, three hundred and forty-three (1,343) in a regional hospital, and nine hundred and forty-seven (947) in each psychiatric hospital.
“This means that sixty-seven thousand, six hundred and thirty-five (67,635) people will be employed in the Agenda 111 hospitals.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
Government’s Commitment To The Health Sector
As part of the nation’s effort to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), President Akufo-Addo reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to enhancing access to fundamental and high-quality medical services by providing the required facilities, tools, and logistics, including the use of appropriate technology.
He shared his vision to make Ghana the center of excellent medical care in West Africa with his audience.
“Beyond the building of these new healthcare facilities, my vision is to help make Ghana the Centre of Excellence for Medical Care in West Africa by 2030, leveraging on Ghana’s favorable status in the Region as the most peaceful country in West Africa, a beacon of democracy on the continent, and a land of opportunities”.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
The President noted that his government has restored nursing trainee allowances, and recruited the highest number of healthcare workers in the history of the 4th Republic, with fifty-eight thousand and forty-one (58,041) health workers employed to supplement the existing health sector workforce at the height of COVID-19 alone.
He further underscored his government’s feat in providing every constituency with functioning ambulances. Additionally, he also mentioned the improvement his government had made to the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“The Ghana Ambulance Service has been equipped with three hundred and seven (307) ambulances, which is 1-Constituency-1-Ambulance, in comparison to the fifty-five (55) ‘semi-functioning’ ambulances that existed during the time of the Mahama government. We have made improvements in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to make access easier, and we are using drones to deliver emergency medical supplies to remote areas.”
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
The Agenda 111 initiative will build 101 standard 100-bed district hospitals with space for doctors and nurses in districts without district hospitals, six new regional hospitals for each of the six new regions, renovate the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in the Western Region, construct one new regional hospital for the Western Region, and two (2) psychiatric hospitals for two of the three (3) zones of the nation, namely the Middle and North. The total price of the package is expected to be USD 1.77 billion.
According to the Agenda 111 detailed document, the facilities that Ghanaians will use include, among other things, 4 cutting-edge operating rooms for maternity, obstetrics, and gynecology, a full complement of male and female wards, as well as pediatric and isolation units.
According to the government, on completion, the venture will be “the largest investment in Healthcare infrastructure in the country since independence.”
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