The Health Sector Needs No Drones
Posted on: June 20, 2018, by : mawuli
THE AFRICAN CENTRE FOR HEALTH POLICY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS (ACH-PRA)
was very much elated to hear Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Mahamud Bawumia promised to introduce the use of trending technology (drones) in the delivery of health service in remote areas of Ghana. This is a clear indication that the Vice President (VP) and for that matter the government of Ghana understands the challenges of the health sector as faced by both health care givers and patients alike, especially in our remote communities. It thus reveals government’s acknowledgement of the low-quality of care being delivered to patients in these parts of the country. ACH-PRA therefore lauds government’s intention to help improve health care even in the remote areas of Ghana. However, the chosen mode of intervention (introduction of drones to improve upon the availability of blood and emergency drugs at remote health facilities) is not only unrealistic but also untenable as a remedy to the problem identified. This article therefore demonstrates this opinion.
Click here to download full article: The Health Sector needs NO Drones
There are times i feel like this country is finished for ever. The day i heard about these drones I felt so sick and vowed never to contribute on any political issues in this country. unfortunately i have to break my vow because someone or a higher institution like ACH-PRA is condemning the same thing today. The whole of Ghana has 50 working ambulances. There is a huge deficiency that is causing human lives on daily basis. We did not hear of any research into difficulties in distribution of drugs an how many people are dying as a result of that and all of a sudden our vice president as usual in the effort of scoring political points think we need drones to deliver drugs. Unless of course these drones are big enough to transport a patient for one hospital to another, i don’t see the need.
Poor Ghana suffering in the hands of politicians.
Nice publication, I hope the health ministry and government of Ghana will take honest interest of this article.
Fantastic pieces. Thank u SCH-PRA for this writeup. Mr vice PREZ n him min of Health did u seek the consultation from ur party invisibe forces or Delta forces ir what?
I cant think far.
Adding a little to this discussion; Health Care in our country has many outstanding issues none of which probably has anything to do with drones.
1. Deaths from the ‘no-bed’ syndrome. Hospitals and clinics need enough spaces and beds to house the high numbers of patients
2. Terrible behaviors of some health workers. We have nurses slapping patients and some getting so busy on social media during work hours that patients are dying from lack of attention
3. Insurance & Cash-and-carry system. With no doubt, the health sector should have probably been the only part of our economy to be free from cash and carry. We still have issues with health insurance and people are dying because they have no money to pay for services upfront.
Let’s set our priorities right! It’s not about impressing the people with modern technology especially if it’s far from solving our issues. Drones can’t fix terrible nurses and doctors. Drones can’t provide beds
The health of Ghanaians is never safe under our political leaders ,The Director General for Ghana health service,should be appointed base on political affiliation. so that he/she can always advice the government accordingly