“MPs, Ministers and other officials must be banned from seeking medical care abroad” – Okudzeto-Ablakwa explains why
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Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, a North Tongu MP, is calling for a ban on elected officials pursuing medical treatment abroad.
This drive is motivated by the untimely death of a 7-year-old boy in his district due to a lack of hospital beds.
When public officials are required to pursue medical treatment in Ghana, Okudzeto believes they would be inspired to develop the country’s health system and capability.
Okudzeto-Ablakwa, speaking at the Accra Ubuntu Lions Club’s induction ceremony on Saturday, blamed Ghana’s health issues on the “no bed syndrome” and the abandonment of many health programs.
“With the continuous no bed syndrome, why are there so many abandoned hospital projects all over the country? And why are others like the UGMC being under-utilized? If that 12-year-old boy was my child or that of Sam George, was that the kind of care he would have been accorded when it was clear he needed to be referred?” he asked
“Why can’t we have a health system that works for all regardless of status, size of the pocket, who you know, or who knows you? This cannot be normal and we cannot accept this. The challenges in our broken healthcare system must not be allowed to fester. Some of the challenges are so basic that we have absolutely no excuse.”
“There is the need to implement a policy of ‘No medical treatment abroad’ for members of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary with immediate effect. This appears to me to be the best way to address the numerous challenges in the health sector. This will force us to get things right and do right to avoid the needless death of the 12-year-old boy which continues to traumatize me,” he fumed.
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