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President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday opened the ground for the launch of the government’s program to build 111 hospitals across the country.
Agenda 111, as baptized by the Government, is an ambitious plan to address the health infrastructure deficit in the country.
It was brought up last year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which exposed the need for Ghana to modernize, expand and equitably distribute health facilities across the country to better manage epidemics of such proportions.
As planned by the government, 101 hospitals would be built in districts without health facilities, six hospitals would be built in the newly created region and two specialized hospitals would be set up in the middle and northern belts of the country.
At a ceremony in Trede, the construction site of the Atwima Kwanwoma district hospital in the Ashanti region, exalted president Akufo-Addo was happy that the country is making the biggest investment in health care during his tenure in government.
He noted that the coronavirus pandemic has not only disrupted daily life, but has highlighted shortcomings in the country’s healthcare system due to years of underinvestment and neglect.
So, in the fire of Covid-19 infections in the country last year, it was realized that there were 101 districts across Ghana without hospitals, and “we had to do something,” said President.
President Akufo-Addo said Agenda 111 would improve health care in every district of the country and was carefully thought out to inspire activity and growth in various sectors of the economy.
He revealed that each of the hospitals would cost $ 16 million, including medical equipment and building all of these facilities. Construction would begin at the end of 2021 and be completed in 18 months.
So far, he said, 88 of the 101 sites for hospitals have been identified, and the acquisition of the remaining 13 sites would be completed shortly for these projects to take off as well.
The hospital project, the president said, had been strategically planned to create jobs for more than 20,100 jobs for healthcare professionals in the country when completed.
A total of 25,000 direct and indirect jobs would also be created during the construction stages of the project, which would involve skilled workers including architects, civil mechanics, related professionals and craftsmen.
The president said the government had already set aside US $ 100 million as seed funding for the ambitious Agenda 111 project, which would dramatically change the face of Ghana’s healthcare system.
He said that beyond building the facilities, the broader goal of the project was to position Ghana as an attractive healthcare destination in West Africa, with excellent medical facilities for people to attend. neighboring countries.
Significantly, this would improve Ghana’s GDP growth, promote foreign direct investment and tourism, and end the brain drain of skilled health professionals in the country.
Along with the groundbreaking ceremony, work on 87 other district hospitals would begin simultaneously.
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