Govt renews commitment to provide quality health

Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Monday renewed the government’s commitment to provide quality health delivery to Ghanaians and to achieve all health-related Millennium Development Goals.

He said the government would also support moves by corporate and other organised bodies to send better health to the doorsteps of all in the West African sub-region.

Vice President Mahama said this at the launch of a fund-raising campaign for the Moorfields Eye Hospital project at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to cater for the eye care needs of Ghanaians.

The project, which started a few months ago, is committed to developing an integrated eye unit and surgical training facility based at the main teaching hospital as a means of addressing the grave need for eye specialists.

The facility, when completed, would also enable specialists from across West Africa to be trained in safe and high volume surgery to help eliminate cataract blindness and to deliver sight saving treatments for people with glaucoma and trachoma, in addition to many other eye diseases.

Vice President Mahama said the sense of sight was the most valuable of the human senses and should, therefore, be safeguarded tightly to enable people to increase productivity.

He added that government would support the project to make it a centre of excellence in medicine and Specialists Care Delivery to cater for Ghanaians and other patients from the neighbouring countries.

Mr Ishmael Yamson, Chairman of the Moorfields Eye Hospital Liaison Committee, said about 2.6 million people across the West African Sub-Region were blind, while a similar number of people were under the threat of becoming blind, and the establishment of the Hospital could help curb the menace in the coming years.

He said that the hospital, which would also serve as an eye research centre, had the potential of equipping specialists to come out with findings that would eliminate some diseases in the next few decades.

Dr Stephen Akafo, Head of Eye Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, called on all corporate organisations to as part of their social responsibility donate generously towards the sustenance of the hospital.

Source: GNA