GHANA – Ghana has upgraded hospitals and centers to serve people within lower and middle-level income brackets who are disadvantaged when it comes to seeking quality healthcare.
Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has introduced Agenda 111 policy with an objective to build one hundred and eleven ultra-modern hospitals to meet World Health Organization’s standards in the country.
The government’s agenda 111 policy guided the Birim Central Municipal Assembly to construct a new 2-storey Medical Laboratory complex and hand it over to the Management of Oda Government Hospital upon completion.
The laboratory complex was constructed by Big-Al Company Limited at the cost of GH₵ 701,000 (US$104,193) funded by Birim Central Municipal Assembly.
During the handing over project, the Municipal Chief Executive for Birim Central Ms. Victoria Adu assured that the Assembly would continue to execute its constitutional duties in Oda to help improve the living standard of residents.
“The new Medical Laboratory complex contains 2 offices, 9 laboratory rooms, patient’s waiting section, blood bank office, washrooms for the hospital staff and patients among others,” said Ms. Victoria Adu.
The new complex will enhance the work of the hospital’s staff, ensure sick persons acquire needed laboratory services and charge management of the hospital to use the medical laboratory complex for its intended purposes.
Kwadaso Municipal Assembly commissions 41-bed capacity ward
Meanwhile, Kwadaso Municipal Assembly has commissioned and handed over a 41-bed capacity award to Apatrapa Health Center in the Kwadaso Municipality of the Ashanti region.
The facility will enhance activities of the Health Center as well as healthcare delivery in the Apatrapa community and its environs.
The project, fully funded by the Assembly at the cost of GH₵ 450,000 (US$66,886), includes male and female wards, offices for health officials as well as washrooms.
The Ashanti Regional Minister Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah advised the health center management to properly maintain the new project to prolong its lifespan.
“The Kwadaso Assembly should work together with traditional authorities to prevent any form of encroachment of lands provided for the Health Center,” he advised.
Moreover, the Assembly intends to put up a fully furnished theatre facility with equipment for the medical center to improve the delivery of staff as well to raise the status of the health facility.
Komfo Anokye Hospital ongoing upgrade worth US$20.6million
Currently, the Ghanaian Health Ministry is working closely with the management of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital to construct an advanced maternity block in an effort to provide quality projects for the people.
The ongoing project, being undertaken by Brazilian company Contracta Construction Limited, is funded by a German-based Deutsche Bank at the cost of GH₵138.5million (about US$20.6m).
The project encompassing a 502-bed capacity building started on May 3rd 2021 and is expected to be complete in 2024.
The construction company has reached the 4th floor and it is gradually advancing to the stage of procurement and fixing of technological equipment that gives the hospital an international look.
Ghanaian Professor receives a US$3million medical grant
In recent developments, West African Genetic Center (WAGC) received a US$3m grant from National Institute of Health (NIH) in United States to sequence the whole genome DNA of children with Sickle Cell Disease in Ghana.
The grant was awarded to the Director of WAGC Professor Fiifi Ofori-Acquah who has a track record focused on sickle cell disease and genomics research.
The DNA sequencing studies will be performed on samples of participants enrolling in the Sickle Cell Genomics of Africa which is an existing US$5.4m NIH project.
The grant will also fund other studies including genotyping of two polymorphic DNA repeat sequences in the promoter of the heme oxygenase-1 gene in a project entitled, ‘Therapeutics Targets of Acute Chest Syndrome’.
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