The Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has highlighted major interventions by the NPP government, which he said are transforming the health sector.
Speaking in Ejisu, at the launch of TeleHealth, an application that can be used to remotely seek medical attention, Dr. Bawumia said the government, over the past eight years, has prioritized these interventions to address many challenges in the health sector that the Akufo-Addo government inherited.
The Vice President said the interventions, about seven of them, are all contributing towards the transformation of the healthcare system.
Below are the interventions Dr. Bawumia spoke about:
Restoration of Nursing Trainee Allowance
Dr. Bawumia said that in every healthcare delivery system, personnel are important, hence it is important to prioritize support for personnel, particularly nursing trainee allowances.
“That is why we restored the nursing trainee allowance, which was canceled by the NDC, so that they will be trained and come into the health system,” Dr. Bawumia said.
One Constituency One Ambulance
Dr. Bawumia lamented the poor state of the Ghana Ambulance Service with limited ambulances for the entire country.
“When we assumed office, there were only 37 active ambulances for the country, so we brought in the one constituency one ambulance initiative. We now have 307 ambulances,” Dr. Bawumia said.
Revival of NHIS and Covering More Diseases
Dr. Bawumia said the NPP inherited an almost collapsed National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) from former President Mahama, with debts from unpaid claims. However, he noted that since 2017, the government has revived it and made it more reliable.
Dr. Bawumia added that the NHIS has been strengthened to cover sickle cell patients, children with cancer, and now dialysis for kidney patients.
Agenda 111
Dr. Bawumia said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, which stretched the nation’s health facilities, the idea of Agenda 111 emerged to build hospitals in newly created regions without district and regional hospitals.
Dr. Bawumia said the government is looking forward to employing over 70,000 health workers when all the facilities are completed.
Drone Medical Delivery
Certainly, one of the biggest medical interventions in the world is the delivery of essential drugs to remote areas through drones.
The drones, Dr. Bawumia said, make daily deliveries from six centers to over 2,000 health centers across the country.
“This has helped address the problem of not being able to send essential medical supplies to remote areas in times of emergencies,” he said.
Remarkably, Dr. Bawumia revealed that all the centers are manned by Ghanaians.
E-Health
“We realized that folders of patients in public hospitals were being lost, especially when they are transferred. So we decided to digitalize the records of patients at all public hospitals, from teaching hospitals to regional hospitals, polyclinics, etc. God willing, next year, we will add chip compounds,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“We have networked all these hospitals, and they are speaking to each other. It doesn’t matter where you have been transferred from or to, your records will be there in the system.”
E-Pharmacy
Dr. Bawumia recalled how, in 2019, at the annual pharmaceutical conference in Ho, he told the Pharmaceutical Council about the e-pharmacy, saying that all pharmacies should be converged on one platform to make it easier for Ghanaians to buy medications.
“We started it gradually and we now have an e-pharmacy platform with over 2,000 pharmacies on it. This affords Ghanaians the easy option of buying drugs on the platform.”
TeleHealth
Dr. Bawumia launched the TeleHealth application in Ejisu, Ashanti Region, on Monday.
Speaking, Dr. Bawumia said the application is to provide swift and remote access to health services for Ghanaians, without necessarily visiting the hospital, saving time, resources, and money.
“Some people go to the hospital and spend hours waiting just to see a doctor. Some people also don’t have anyone to take them to the hospital, so this TeleHealth app will help a lot for those who are limited in a way,” he said.
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