The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has revealed that only five per cent of health facilities in Ghana currently have the full range of medical equipment needed to deliver quality healthcare services.
According to him, the shortage of essential medical equipment remains one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s health sector, affecting hospitals, clinics, and primary healthcare centres nationwide.
Mr. Akandoh made the remarks after touring the Mother and Child Hospital in Kasoa as part of ongoing assessments of healthcare infrastructure and service delivery across the country.
Speaking to journalists after the visit, the Health Minister admitted that many health facilities are operating under difficult conditions due to inadequate equipment, describing the situation as a major challenge inherited by the current administration.
“The equipment status in this country is very, very poor, and that is what I inherited,” he stated.
He explained that government has begun taking steps to improve the situation, particularly at the primary healthcare level, through the procurement and distribution of medical and hospital equipment across the country.
According to him, while the challenges cannot be solved immediately, efforts are already underway to strengthen healthcare delivery in several facilities.
“We have bought a number of quantities of health equipment and hospital equipment that we are distributing across the length and breadth of this country. We cannot do it all at once, but we have started,” he added.
Mr. Akandoh further disclosed that official data available to the ministry shows that only five per cent of health facilities currently possess the full complement of equipment required to function effectively, highlighting the scale of the challenges confronting Ghana’s healthcare system.
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