Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has explained that the decision to undertake arguably the largest investment in the country’s health care system, Agenda 111, was due to government’s determination to close the gaping lack of access to healthcare facilities, especially in remote areas of the country.
Describing the initiative as a bold decision by the Akufo-Addo administration, he emphasised that this was the first time a concerted effort was being made to ensure that every Ghanaian, irrespective of where they live, has access to a quality health facility within a relatively short distance.
Vice President Bawumia made the observation yesterday when he inspected progress of work on one of the dozens of new hospitals under construction across the country at Bunkprugu in the North East Region.
“One of the things that we have to appreciate fundamentally is that agenda 111 is really a bold initiative by the government because we’re saying that every district should have a district hospital; that is the vision”, he reiterated.
Dr. Bawumia noted over 60 years after Ghana attained independence, over 90 districts in the country still do not have district hospitals to provide healthcare services to the populace.
“The Agenda 111 Project is to bridge a 60-year gap in access to health facilities across the country. Ninety (90) districts in our country do not have District Hospitals. Six Regions do not have Regional Hospitals. Large parts of our country do not have access to Specialist hospital facilities and services. This is despite over 60 years of being Independent.
“So the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took the bold decision to build these hospitals and meet the health care needs of the people of Ghana, to ensure that every District has a hospital and every Region has a Regional Hospital.
“This will greatly increase access to health care, prevent avoidable, preventable deaths and reduce the suffering of our people”, Dr. Bawumia added.
The Agenda 111 project involves the construction and/or upgrading of 101 district hospitals, construction of six regional hospitals in the newly created regions, two specialised hospitals in the middle and northern belts.
It will ensure the construction of a regional hospital in the Western Region and renovation of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.
Officials of the Ministry of Health say the Project, when completed, will significantly deepen delivery of quality healthcare at the district level and boost access to healthcare services for all citizens towards ensuring the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 3.
Earlier, Vice President Bawumia inspected ongoing works at Savelugu and Yendi, both in the Northern Region, as part of the first leg of his working visit to the five regions of the North of Ghana.
He was accompanied by Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Presidential Adviser on Health, Hon Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, and other government officials.
