Tamale, June 4, GNA - Hajia Ramatu Aliu Mahama, wife of the Vice President on Friday presented assorted medical drugs to the Tamale Teaching Hospital and called on the government and other stakeholders in the health sector to pool resources to rehabilitate the facility. She said the Children's Ward was in a deplorable state that needed urgent maintenance and replacement of equipment to improve healthcare services.

Hajia Ramatu Mahama noted that the Tamale Teaching Hospital was the only referral hospital in the North and said it needed urgent attention to save lives, especially children who were the future leaders of the country.

She said health forms an important component in the lives of people and stated, "A nation that does not have appropriate measures and programmes in place to address the health needs of her people does so at her own peril".

The wife of the Vice President said there was the need for all stakeholders in the health sector to put all hands on deck to ensure that quality healthcare delivery was brought to the doorsteps of the people.

Hajia Ramatu Mahama presented the drugs on behalf of Mr. Issifu Haruna, son of the Kpembewura Alhaji Haruna Kibasibi II, resident in the US, who donated them to the hospital.

She said that she appealed to citizens and friends of the region to support the hospital during her medical treatment in the US. Hajia Ramatu Mahama who was in the region to launch the Rama Foundation HIV/AIDS project, an NGO for Vittin and Dekpema Electoral Areas in Tamale promised to continue to support the hospital and other health facilities in the country to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

She said the government in an attempt to improve access to quality health care to the people had embarked on a massive expansion and renovation of health facilities.

Hajia Ramatu Mahama said the government was also putting up new health institutions a to improve the health of rural people.

She said the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was aimed to make quality healthcare accessible to all and urged all service providers whose responsibility was to ensure the success of the Scheme to be diligent and faster in its implementation.

Dr. Daniel Tapang, Chief Executive of the Tamale Teaching Hospital who received the drugs, thanked Hajia Ramatu Mahama and Mr. Haruna for their support and urged other citizens and NGOs to assist the hospital to provide the needed quality healthcare for the people.

He announced that the hospital had been selected to administer HIV/AIDS drugs for persons living with the disease in the North

Mr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Northern Regional Minister who accompanied the Hajia Ramatu Mahama urged well-to-do citizens from the region to support development projects.

Early, Hajia Ramatu Mahama cut the sod for the commencement of a 755 million-cedi pre-school and vocational school at Fuo, a suburb of Tamale.

She also paid courtesy calls on some Chiefs and opinion leaders in Tamale during her two-day stay.