Executive Director of health policy think tank, the Africa Center for Health Policy, Research and Analysis, Dr Thomas Anaba says President Akufo-Addo may have been misled into giving a date for the commissioning newly procured ambulances.
Anaba’s comments follow a request made by the National Ambulance Service (NAS) for a postment of the commissioning of the ambulance which was scheduled for Monday, January 6, 2020.
A request he says casts a huge doubt on the country’s seriousness to strengthen its already weak emergency response system as a developing country.
President Akufo-Addo in his meet-the-press series in December, 2019, promised the commissioning and distribution of all 307 procured ambulances across the various constituencies on January 6, 2020.
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But the President’s inability to do so as promised has led to Mr Anaba questioning if President Akufo-Addo was unaware of the numerous ‘setbacks’ when he promised to launch them in January 2020.
“This issue really baffles me; were there no proper checks done by the National Ambulance Service before advising the President to have the ambulances commissioned on January 6, 2020,” he questioned.
“They [NAS] should just distribute what we have now; with the kind of ambulance service ran in Ghana, all you need is a bed and machine aside the paramedics,” Dr Anaba demanded.
He argued that government’s decision to hold onto the distribution of the 48 ambulances parked at the forecourt of the State House is a clear manifestation of its insensitivity to Ghanaians.