The Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has revealed that 91 out of the 307 ambulances imported and commissioned under the “1 District 1 Ambulance” initiative by President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2020 are currently non-operational.
During a recent debate on the budget estimates for the Ministry of Health, Mr. Akandoh expressed concern over the state of the ambulances, disclosing that 79 of them have completely broken down, while an additional 12 have been involved in accidents and are in poor condition.
Mr. Akandoh highlighted the challenges faced by the National Ambulance Service, pointing out that despite a significant increase in emergency cases over the past few years, the service lacks adequate funding.
He cited figures, stating that in 2022, the service recorded over 41,000 cases, and by 2023, the number had already reached 27,000 cases at the time of their appearance before the committee.
“In 2022, the National Ambulance Service recorded not less than 41,000 cases; in 2023, as at the time they appeared before us, they had recorded only 27,000 cases.
“Mr. Speaker, as I have read from the report, out of about GH¢67 million in allocation, they have received only GH¢20 million. Mr. Speaker, out of the 307 ambulances that were imported into this country in 2020, about 79 have completely broken down and are not in operation, and about 12 have been involved in accidents. All in all, about 91 of the ambulances are not in operation, and if we continue this way, four years from now, we will not have any ambulances left in the fleet,” he added.
President Nana Akufo-Addo had commissioned the ambulances on January 28, 2020, at the Black Star Square in Accra as part of the “1 District 1 Ambulance” initiative. However, the recent revelation by Mr. Akandoh raises questions about the effectiveness and sustainability of the ambulance fleet in the country.
Source: ghanaweb.com
