Over 520,000 people sharing one (1) ambulance is absolutely madness – Dr. Frank Serebour
Vice-President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) Dr Frank Serebour has described as madness the ratio of ambulances shared by Ghanaians.
“If over 520,000 people are sharing 1 ambulance it means it does not exist, that is all, is as simple as that and this is absolutely madness” he bemoaned.
According to him, health crisis such as an inadequate ambulance that jeopardizes the lives of millions of Ghanaians is worrying.
Speaking on Accra based ‘Accra fm’ monitored by thepressradio.com on Tuesday, July 3, 2018, Dr. Serebour stated that ambulance is important which the Leaders should show much concern because it supports life till patience reaches the hospital.
He said is very pathetic the kind of ambulances the Leaders exports in the country.
“The kind of ambulances the Leaders export in the country is also another problem, we don’t just go out there and bring any ambulance in the country. We need Technical advice to identify the kind of ambulances that can fit our system. It is low or high rising ambulance, are they well equipped to support life till patience reaches hospital; all these things need to put in place” Dr. Serebour stated.
Statistics indicates that the country of 29 million people only has 55 functioning ambulances serving all ten regions. Ghana currently has 155 ambulances, 100 of which have broken down due to various faults, many of them engine-related.
Per the statistics 1 ambulance is shared by over 520,000 Ghanaians. That ratio is well above the appropriate ratios of between 1:50,000 to 1:100,000 as suggested by experts.
It is worsened by the growing burden of acute diseases in the country and rising cases of motor accidents.
However, Dr Frank Serebour said the political Leader should be blamed for not prioritize health matters in the country.
“Our politicians should be allowed to patronize on the health system of the country, we should not allow them to go and seek for medical treatment abroad till they prioritize health matter to save lives” he added.
Source: Ghana/thepressradio.com/Anokye Elvis
