By close of year 2024, some of government’s Agenda 111 projects will be commissioned, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate for the Essikado-Ketan constituency, Charles Onuawonto Cromwell Bissue, has said.
The Agenda 111, which according to Mr. Bissue was an intervention by the government to curtail the impact of the Covid-19 became a necessity when thousands of people were dying in advanced nations who health systems are comparatively better than Ghana’s.
On the Big Issue on TV3’s New Day Monday, March 11, 2024, the former Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) said the coming to being of the Agenda 111 was the reason the National Cathedral project has stalled.
“So, the President made the right decision and said at the time that we did not anticipate Covid, in Italy 40,000 people died where they have the best health care arguably compared to us, they have better healthcare than us but 40,000 people. I don’t think we had 40,000 people dying here because of the way we managed it.
“And then he comes out with a decision that we are going to build 111 hospitals and I believe this year some of it will be commissioned. So, in our history, we haven’t actually done something like that,” he stated.
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The Majority in Parliament in November 2023 said the government was going to commission the first 50 of the Agenda 111 hospitals by the middle of 2024.
The initiative, inaugurated by President Akufo-Addo on August 17, 2021, aims to construct a total of 111 district hospitals throughout the country to improve access to healthcare.
The Vice Chairman of the Health Committee of Parliament, Patrick Boakye Yiadom, in his debate on the 2024 Budget, said the health facilities would run a 24-hour service when commissioned.
“Mr. Speaker, by the middle of next year, I am not bragging; we will commission the first 50 of these Agenda 111 hospitals,” he said.
“Mr. Speaker, when the hospitals are completed, not only will they provide jobs for thousands of doctors, nurses, and others, but they will also open up businesses in the districts. The hospitals will run 24-hour services,” he added.
