Rethink
- Corona has exposed the use
of one sphygmomanometer (blood pressure monitor) at our health center
- Corona has allow the rich
to care for the poor
- Infrastructure deficit
exposed at our health centers
- It has exposed Ghana health
service of the use of one mass balance (weighing scale) at health centers for
all patients to use and even removing their footware before using it
- Poor emergency response due
to poor settlement plans and locational direction etc.
The Weak Health System
Life expectancy in 2018 for my
country Ghana averagely is 63 years by worldhealthexpectancy.com. This means
our health sector and health is a challenge.
Most health centers in Ghana
are lacking modern facilities and COVID-19 has exposed that. You go to hospital
for check up and you will be directed to go to another facility for texting and
scanning before coming back to the hospital and which all texting cannot be met.
- A nation which most
hospitals do not have Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI) scan, which
display the internal structures of the body details. Other modern equipment and laboratories to aid health workers to know the actual health problem one is
facing and treat accordingly but due to these inadequacy, health workers have
to be doing try and error with our health.
- A nation where we live like
we are in the old era (the 10th century), you visit a health center and people
who should know best will tell you to remove your footware and stand on the
weighing scale even with a lot of skin diseases and viruses around and we see
nothing wrong with it in Ghana. One Sphygmomanometer is used on every patient
who visit the facility. Now Corona has exposed the bad way health is practice
in Ghana.
- A nation where National
Health Insurance cannot pay for painkiller drugs and even injection because
government revenue is taking care of politicians health care outside the
country including their transportation at a high cost. Health insurance and
facilities can not cover drugs and scan for pregnant women because politicians
allowances are too much that government revenue can not provide the basic health medication for pregnant women ( like
full calcium and other important medicines for growth.
- Over 70% of Ghanaian's do
not take balance diet food because health Care is expensive in Ghana. Every
meal should contain cereal, protein, vegetables and fruits making the square of
a meal but in Ghana, most meal kills vegetables nutrients because of the heat
the food goes through before been cooked and fruit is mostly missing in our
meals.
Economist View:
For our Economy to be strong,
we need to improve the health sector because most hours lost at work places are
due to health conditions leading to low productivity and reduced Gross National
Product causing low per capita income.
Capital expenditure is
inadequate in the health sector, which affect the output of the health
personnels and psychologically causing imbalance.
High cost of health care does
not allow a lot of people to go for checkup to monitor their health situations
and also the time spent at the health center increase stress and the dependency
ratio. You go to the hospital at 7:00am and you will be attended to for treatment
at 1:00pm, all these are hours lost affecting labour output.
High dependency ratio,
unemployment, low productivity, poor development index and standard of living,
reduced government revenue, low per capita income, etc.
All these are dangers to the
economy and the Ghanaian economy future is in shambles if nothing is done after
COVID-19
Solutions:
- If laboratories, NMRI scans
and modern equipment are available at
every health center at a subsidized cost, will attract a lot of people to go
for medical check-up always and improve government revenue and output.
- Modern Sphygmomanometer and
mass balance should be acquired in all health centers so that, they shouldn't
be touching all patients skin just like the thermometer gun, which will prevent
taking back sickness from hospitals
- Government should set her
priorities right in things which will develop both the human and capital
resources not bullet proof jackets and new Chambers
- National Health Insurance
should be empowered financially to provide basic and powerful drugs for
effective treatment
- Government should stop
exporting quality health personnel outside the country and keep them in the
nation to help and improve productivity and output of goods
We are not in normal times and
Ghana is almost in recession.
Watch out for the Security
Sector next on Rethink our Economy is out of control, the future is dying, the
new generation in big trouble because our thinking is out of control for
national development.
#Be yourself# Ghana need us.
By: Mr. Aligah Seyram Emmanuel
Economics Tutor at Tanyigbe Senior High School
Tel: +233 54 622 5631