The Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, has expressed her concerns regarding the lack of specialized healthcare professionals and essential medical equipment in Ghana. She revealed that there are currently only two practicing cardiologists serving the entire northern region of the country.
During her address at the government’s Accountability Series on Monday, May 11, Obuobia stated that a nationwide evaluation conducted by the Trust Fund revealed significant disparities in access to specialized healthcare, particularly in underprivileged and underserved areas.
She indicated that this assessment was part of efforts to identify the most pressing healthcare deficiencies in the country following the establishment of the Fund. This situation underscores the critical need for ongoing investment in specialized healthcare infrastructure and personnel to address the existing inequalities in access to treatment.
Obuobia elaborated that the assessment encompassed 21 health facilities, which included six teaching hospitals, nine regional hospitals, and referral facilities across the six newly established regions. The results, she noted, highlighted significant infrastructural shortcomings and acute shortages of specialized healthcare personnel necessary for enhancing healthcare delivery throughout the nation.
“Throughout all the facilities surveyed, there were merely two MRI machines and five mammogram machines. Furthermore, there are only two radiotherapy machines in the public sector and one in the private sector, both located in Accra and Kumasi,” she remarked.
In response to these challenges, Obuobia announced that the Ghana Medical Trust Fund has initiated the construction of three advanced cardiology centers at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, and Tamale Teaching Hospital, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
She stated that these facilities will feature catheterization laboratories, hybrid operating theaters, intensive care units, recovery wards, and modern diagnostic equipment, all aimed at enhancing Ghana’s capacity for specialized cardiac and vascular care.
