Ghanaians die like chickens because we have leaders who are very insensitive to the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian and are more concerned with their stomachs and their immediate families. There have been way too many instances of preventable deaths due to failure in our systems, but our leaders simply do not care because they can always fly abroad for the best healthcare all at the expense of the taxpayer. If our leaders are forced to make do with the crappy health services we provide in the country with no hope of going to a better place for their healthcare needs, they would have no option but to improve the health sector.
A few weeks ago the country was up in arms about a seventy-year-old man who died needlessly because he needed urgent medical attention but was turned down by more than six hospitals all with the excuse that there were no beds. A crying shame, to say the least. Last Friday former Vice President under John Dramani Mahama, Paa Kwasi Amissah Arthur who doubled as the former Governor of the Bank of Ghana had a medical emergency at the gym and lost his life because there was no ambulance to convey him to the hospital.
The man who has his signature on most of the currency notes in circulation died in the back of a pickup in the most undignified fashion because people like him who could have made a difference chose to leave our healthcare system in shambles because they can afford treatment elsewhere. This should be a clarion call to our leaders who need to realize that it is not always they can get to run away from the problems they themselves have created.
Obviously appalled by the state of events, the Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association has called for a ban to prevent politicians from flying abroad for treatment. He believes if they are forced to endure the system as it is, they will be forced to make it better. Speaking passionately to Cheif Jerry Forson on Accra FM’s Ghana Yenson On July 3, Dr. Frank Serebour called on our leaders to prioritize healthcare in the country.
“Our politicians must patronize our health system, we should not allow them to fly out for treatment. They need to taste our health system to see how bad the system is so that they will begin prioritizing health in Ghana”, he beseeched. “We have a long way to go but we need to start now to deal with the problems, a journey of thousand miles begins with a step, and, so, we should start now.”