The Minority in Parliament is demanding the exemption of health facilities from the unannounced power cuts being witnessed in parts of the country.
According to the Ranking Member of the Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, this is important to prevent further harm to patients and health facilities.
In a statement issued and signed today, Thursday, March 28, 2024, Mr Akandoh who doubles as the Juaboso MP highlighted the gravity of the power cuts to healthcare delivery in the country.
“We are worried by reports that these outages have led to increased morbidity and mortality among patients relying on especially public health facilities. Amid these happenings, the government has refused to heed wise counsel from suffering Ghanaians and businesses to publish a load-shedding timetable to enable them to plan their lives. This situation has obviously begun to take a toll on critical healthcare facilities across the country,” portions of the statement read.
Mr Akandoh also called on the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led government to conduct a health audit in all the facilities across the country to ascertain the power capacities of the facilities, should the ECG deny them supply from the national grid.
“Audit all alternate power supply systems within health facilities to determine their capacity and reliability in handling electricity disruptions and procurement of emergency power supply systems should be done if current systems are inadequate.”
“The Ministry of Energy, in collaboration with relevant agencies, must, without delay, exempt all health facilities nationwide from the current unannounced and unscheduled electricity load shedding and power outages.”
Read the full statement below:
The Minority in Parliament has noted with deep concern the devastating impact of the ongoing unannounced and unscheduled electricity load shedding on the delivery of essential health services across the country.
We are worried by reports that these outages have led to increased morbidity and mortality among patients relying on especially public health facilities.
Amid these happenings, the government has refused to heed wise counsel from suffering Ghanaians and businesses to publish a load-shedding timetable to enable them to plan their lives. This situation has obviously begun to take a toll on critical healthcare facilities across the country.
The Minority, therefore, demands the following urgent government interventions to save the people of Ghana from the ongoing crisis in the health sector:
1. The Ministry of Energy, in collaboration with relevant agencies must, without delay, exempt all health facilities nationwide from the current unannounced and unscheduled electricity load shedding and power outages.
2. The Ministry of Health working in tandem with the Ghana Health Service should:
a. Audit all alternate power supply systems within health facilities to determine their capacity and reliability in handling electricity disruptions and procurement of emergency power supply systems should be done if current systems are inadequate.
b. Provide adequate resources for the procurement of fuel and essential inputs necessary for the seamless operation of alternate power supply systems.
c. Ensure the implementation of robust maintenance and service regimes by all health facilities to enhance the reliability of their alternate power supply systems.
d. Conduct a comprehensive impact assessment to gauge the effects of recent power outages on health facility operations, including their impact on patient morbidity and mortality.
The Minority would like to reiterate that in a time of so-called excess capacity, the implementation of a load-shedding exercise by the government is highly unjustifiable and there can be no excuse whatsoever for interrupting power supply, especially to health facilities.
We therefore demand swift action from relevant authorities to address these critical issues and safeguard the delivery of vital health services to Ghanaians.
KWABENA MINTAH AKANDOH (MP)
(Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and
Member of Parliament for Juaboso)
