Forensic histopathologist, Dr. Paul Ossei Sampene, has expressed deep disappointment over the decision to send the remains of the military helicopter crash victims to South Africa for forensic identification, describing the situation as a national disgrace and a failure of Ghana’s health system.
His comments come amid the departure of a specially deployed jet from Accra on Thursday, carrying the remains of eight victims of the tragic military helicopter crash at Adansi in the Ashanti Region.
The remains of Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, and six others are being flown to South Africa for forensic examination to properly identify each victim.
Speaking on JoyNews AM show, Dr. Sampene questioned why Ghana does not have the facilities to carry out DNA testing locally.
He emphasized that the issue is not about how quickly the testing is done but about the accuracy and reliability of the results.
“It’s not about fast-tracking because families want to bury their loved ones quickly. The government has failed the system by not investing in our medical infrastructure,” he said.
Dr. Sampene lamented that despite significant resources spent training medical professionals abroad, the country’s health facilities remain under-equipped.
“We train many of our doctors outside Ghana, but when they return, they face a system that cannot perform even simple procedures. Hospitals like Korle Bu, Komfo Anokye, and others exist in name only; I feel so bad about it,” he noted.
He described the act of sending samples overseas as a “national day of disgrace” and questioned the lack of confidence in Ghana’s medical training institutions. “If there is no trust in our system, why would officials send their children here to be trained?” he asked.
Dr. Sampene concluded by calling on the Ghana Medical and Dental Council and the Ghana Medical Association to take this incident as a lesson and to demand that the government invest adequately in the medical sector. “Enough is enough. This situation is a disgrace to our nation,” he stated.
Source: Clara Seshie
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