Minority in Parliament has cast doubts in the President’s commitment to build 88 district and 7 regional hospitals by the end of his second term in office.
According to the NDC MPs, the allocation for the Health Ministry in the 2021 budget statement will not be sufficient for such a project.
President Akufo-Addo during his State of the Nation Address expressed his resolve to embark on the biggest healthcare investment in the country’s history, dubbed Agenda 111.
“As announced last year, Agenda 111, which will see to the construction of 100-bed District Hospitals in one hundred and one (101) Districts with no hospitals, seven (7) Regional Hospitals for the new Regions, including one for the Western Region, the construction of two (2) new psychiatric hospitals for the Middle Belt and Northern Belt, respectively, and the rehabilitation of Effia-Nkwanta Hospital in the Western Region, is on course. Construction of some of these hospitals has commenced and will continue without interruption,” the President said on March 9.
However, the allocation made to the supervising ministry puts the commitment’s feasibility into question, the NDC side believes.
Ranking Member on the Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh argues that the ¢1 billion cedis CAPEX for the entire ministry can only construct facilities that fall short of the standards.
“The CAPEX that has been allocated to the Ministry of Health, If you put everything together, we’re doing around ¢1 billion Mr Speaker. Which is less than €149 million.
“Mr Speaker, If you have a CAPEX of around €149 million, are we going to see a WHO standard of hospitals or they’re going to build us weighing centres,” he said on Thursday.
He was contributing to the ongoing debate over the 2021 budget statement in Parliament.
Source: Myjoyonline