Stakeholders in health sector welcome ‘Mahama Cares’; call for more personnel to ensure success

Health sector players have commended government for the ‘Mahama Cares’ Trust Fund initiative but called for more focus on the training of healthcare specialists to bridge the gap in treatment.

The Rector of the Ghana College of physicians and surgeons, Prof Richard Adanu wants government to support the training of more specialists to bridge the gap in treatment of chronic diseases across the country.

Speaking at the official launch of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund ‘MAHAMA CARES’ initiative at the University of Ghana Medical Centre in Accra, the Rector lauded Government for the initiative but was quick to note that their findings have shown that it will take six thousand five hundred additional specialists of all categories for the country to be able to deliver the kind of care that is needed by 2030.

‘‘We’ve realized that we need about six thousand five hundred additional specialists of all categories for us to be able to deliver the kind of care that is needed by 2030. Currently, we have about two thousand specialists in training in the country. So, there’s quite a bit of a gap. But we can find a way in ensuring that all the teaching hospitals train post graduate specialists,’’ he said.

General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Richard Selormey says the training of more specialists is crucial to the success of the initiative.

He fears very soon, the country will not have the healthy population that will work in the country. And that the initiative is timely and by principle they will support it.

“Of course, we acknowledge other interventions that have been tried in the past by previous governments for dialysis and others, but this is comprehensive to deal with those chronic conditions and also because there is a bill that is supposed to support this, and also policy documents that engage this.

“We believe that it will make for a sustainable policy providing sustainable financing for it. Of course, as every policy we expect certain things that will go on to make sure it is actualized and we as GMA, we will be watching and putting our voices and supporting them and to make sure that whatever promises has been made regarding this policy is done,” he said.

Prof. Vincent Boima. Head Nephrologist of the Renal Disease Unit at Korlebu Teaching Hospital could not agree more. He commended government and is hopeful the impact will be great.

‘‘So, for the rest of his or her life, he or she needs to be coughing between seven hundred to one thousand two hundred Ghana cedis every session. And you do three sessions a week. So that’s close to almost between two thousand eight hundred to almost five thousand Ghana cedis every week for the treatment of dialysis.

“This is just unaffordable by the youth of this nation who are being afflicted by this disease. So, to have seen something like this, the Ghana Medical Trust Fund which seeks to cater for these patients who have this chronic illness including dialysis, is really something that we must all applaud,” he stated.

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