General News of Monday, 17 December 2018

Source: 3news.com

Flying blood with drones not a priority – Mahama

Former President, John Dramani Mahama play videoFormer President, John Dramani Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama is baffled the NPP government would prioritise flying blood with drones in the face of the numerous challenges confronting the health sector.

That choice is not a priority, John Mahama remarked to a loud cheers from an NDC gathering after he filed his nominations form on Monday.

“Instead of prioritizing the needs of the health sector, the NPP government chooses to acquire drones to fly blood.”

Parliament last week approved a $12,527,000 deal the Government of Ghana entered with US-based Fly Zipline Inc to distribute medical suppliers across the country with their drone equipment over a period of four years.

The Ghana Medical Association and some stakeholders have asked the government to cancel the deal because it is a priority of the health sector.



John Mahama agreed and demanded, “Government should get its priorities right by spending the limited resources on more essential interventions other than copying innovations without relevance to the realities of Ghana’s current needs.”

The former president mentioned the ‘no bed syndrome’ which he said is an “indictment of leadership” as well as health worker shortage among other “chronic problem in our health service”, and said these should have rather attracted the attention of the government.



He accused the Akufo-Addo-led government of abandoning health sector projects initiated by the NDC administration.

“Unfortunately, many of these now stand unattended to, monument to the petty partisanship of the day while our people persist in their despair. It is beneath our dignity to allow this to continue.”