Some members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) have appealed to the government to launch a national equipment mobilisation campaign to retool health facilities with critical equipment.

In line with that, the members, Early Career Pharmaceutical Group, have proposed “a government-led, globally supported Ghana Health Infrastructure Emergency Fund” for the purpose.

“This should invite contributions from bilateral partners, diaspora networks, and philanthropic entities to purchase critical diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, including catheterisation labs,” the group said in a petition to the Minister of Health (MoH) in Accra.

“The MoH should coordinate and scale this model nationwide with transparency and clear targeting of gaps,” it added.

The call, the group said, had become necessary in the wake of “the tragic passing of a fellow Ghanaian (medical) doctor, a dedicated physician who lost his life under deeply distressing circumstances”.

Petition

The petition, titled: “Urgent gaps in critical care infrastructure in Ghana – A call for immediate prioritisation”, narrates how Dr Kwame Adu Ofori unsuccessfully battled “heart attack” due to the lack of the diagnostic tool.

“He suffered a myocardial infraction and urgently required percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI),” the petition, signed by the Chairperson of the group, Reginald Sekyi-Brown, said.

“He had a heart attack because one of the blood vessels that supplies his heart was blocked. To save his life, doctors needed to quickly do a special procedure to open the blocked vessel and restore blood flow.

“This is usually done by passing a small tube through a blood vessel in the hand or leg to reach the heart, then using a balloon or placing a tiny metal tube (called a stent) to keep the blood vessel open.

“However, as fate and systemic failure would have it, there was no catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). Painfully, he died before gaining access to intervention in Accra,” the petition said.

Cost

A basic catheterisation lab in a low-resource setting typically requires $500,000 to $1 million for procurement, installation, and initial training, the petition estimated.

In addition to X-ray, fluoroscopy, hemodynamic monitoring all estimated to be about $350,000 to $700,000; lead-lined room construction and shielding estimated to be $100,000; staffing, training, maintenance, and regulatory compliance estimated around $100,000 to $200,000, the total estimated value of installing the equipment would be between $2 million to $4 million for four functional regional cath labs.

Proposals

The group further proposed that government “put a moratorium on Agenda 111 for the next 18 months”.

“Agenda 111’s long-term value is not in question. However, pouring scarce capital into new structures without equipping existing referral centres perpetuates a facade of reform.

“The priority must shift immediately to upgrading core emergency infrastructure in regional and tertiary hospitals,” it said.

It also urged the government  to disclose the current state of healthcare by briefing the public about the “actual condition of their health infrastructure”, detailing where gaps exist, regional disparities in emergency care, and government’s roadmap for fixing such deficits over the next 24 months.

It further demanded that the government set up at least four catheterisation labs within 12 months in four nodal regions, namely Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for Ashanti, Tamale Teaching Hospital for Northern, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital for Central, and Ho Teaching Hospital for Volta.