There is widespread outrage among some Ghanaians over the government’s refusal to aid the Heal Kath Project team in clearing tiles for renovation works at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
As leaking roofs at the Gee block and other facilities cry out for renovation and expansion, critical construction materials remain stranded at the Tema port, aggravating the dire situation.
The project, part of the Asantehene’s $10 million comprehensive renovation and modernization initiative for the hospital, finds itself at a standstill, leaving citizens angry and questioning why the government is not committed to waiving the costs for the goods to be cleared.
In an attempt to minimize renovation expenses and maximize the utilization of the funds raised so far, the hospital sent a letter to the government via the Ministry of Finance, requesting a duty waiver on the materials and equipment designated for the project.
Speaking to JoyNews, some Ghanaians expressed their displeasure with the government’s failure to assist the Heal Kath Project team in clearing the goods at the port.
“How on earth – if drugs that have to come to your people, even some that are coming for free and people have donated to build or renovate the hospital that you are supposed to do, I mean where is their conscience.”
Another remarked, “The problem is that we are just wicked; we hate ourselves. How can this even happen? Were we not in this country when some two or three years back, a private company did not pay import duty for so long and that matter just vanished? Why are we so wicked to ourselves?”
On her part, the Executive Director of Hope for Future Generation, Cecilia Lodonu-Senoo, stressed that medications meant for HIV should not be exposed to sunlight, as it can affect their efficacy, emphasising the necessity of promptly clearing them from the port to maintain their effectiveness.
She observed that cases of malaria have increased due to a delay of over a year at the ports, despite the Ministry of Health assuring that the goods will be cleared.
“You cannot expose very sensitive drugs under the sun, of course, it may affect the efficacy, for the expiring date. We heard that most of them will be expiring in 2025 [and] 2025 is just around the corner because by the time they clear these drugs, move them to the central medical shop, share it in the regions, then send them to the district, sub-district and then to the user, it can take six months [to] seven months and so that is where our worry is,” she added.
Public Relations Officer of the Health Ministry, Isaac Offei assured that the FDA will be involved in conducting checks on the drugs.
“Over the years, carrying goods from both the port is not only the Ministry of Health. We go with the Food and Drugs Authority as well, who will test the medications to ensure that what we are taking out and what we are sending to them is something that will be very consumable for us as a nation.
“I do not know where I will be tomorrow and turn out to be a patient at the ward and the drugs are not of good standards are going to affect me as well, so we consider all those things, we check them to see whether these drugs are very effective or not,” he added.
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