The President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said his vision is to make Ghana a centre of medical excellence in West Africa by 2030.
Speaking at a ceremony at Trede in Kumasi to officially mark the commencement of work on the Agenda 111 Hospital Project, Akufo-Addo said: “India and South Africa have shown the way in this regard.”
“Beyond the building of this new healthcare facilities, my vision is to help make Ghana the centre of excellence for medical care in West Africa by 2030.
“The relevance of this is reinforced by the fact that West Africa by 2030, we have a population of half a billion people,” he said
President Akufo-Addo said the government is poised to invest more in various health infrastructure to make this vision a reality.
The government’s flagship agenda to build 111 hospitals across the country is expected to create about 25,000 direct and indirect jobs in Ghana, Akufo-Addo said.
The project which commenced simultaneously at 88 sites across the country on 17 August seeks to bridge health infrastructure gap following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project’s objectives
The objective of the project as set out by the president is to ensure that Ghanaians in every district and region in the country have access to quality health-care services.
The Agenda 111 project, together with the National Health Insurance Scheme, is expected to boost both provision of health-care infrastructure and financial accessibility of health care, in line with the government’s commitment to ensure universal health care for all citizens and attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3).
On completion, the hospitals will fulfil the government’s health policy of a hospital in each district and region.
The process of making good on the deliverables will also create a model of accelerated construction for health facilities which can be developed for future health projects.
Scope of works
The Ministry of Health says the Agenda 111 project will cover the following deliverables: design, procurement, construction, equipping and commissioning of 101 district hospitals, six regional hospitals in the newly created regions (Bono, Bono East, North East, Oti, Savannah and Western North), as well as one new regional hospital in the Western Region, two psychiatric hospitals (Kumasi and Tamale) and redevelopment of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
The Western Region will also benefit from rehabilitation of Effia Nkwanta Hospital.
All of the hospitals are expected to have a complement of staff accommodation for doctors, nurses and other health workers.
Fred Dzakpata
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