Health News of Friday, 8 March 2013
Source: Daily Graphic
$15.3 million deal for Korle-Bu trauma center sealed
A $15.3 million loan agreement between the government of Ghana and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development for the construction of an Emergency Trauma and Acute Care Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital was signed in Accra Thursday.
The Saudi Fund for Development will provide $12 million; the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) $10 million; the Arab Bank for Economic Development $8 million, with the government of Ghana contributing $9 million to finance the first phase of the project estimated at $51.4 million.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr. Seth Tekper signed on behalf of the government while Mr Hesham Al-Wagayan, the Deputy Director-General of the Kuwaiti Fund signed on behalf of the fund.
According to Mr. Tekper, the signing ceremony marked the last of the four funding institutions pooling funds for the project to take off.
He said over the years, the Kuwait fund support to Ghana’s development had mainly been in the power, health and agricultural sectors.
He said reports indicated that non-communicable diseases and road traffic accidents were becoming major causes of morbidity and mortality in the country.
As a result, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital needed to be well resourced to meet the emergencies being the major referral health facility in the country.
Mr. Terkpeh said the project was aimed at expanding and improving the standard of emergency treatment and services at the hospital to meet the increasing number of emergency patients.
For his part, Mr. Al-Wagayan said by signing that loan agreement, the fund had provided nine loans to Ghana to finance projects in various sectors of the economy.
He said the purpose of the project was to support the social and economic development of Ghana by meeting the increased demand for and improving the quality of and access to tertiary healthcare services in the country.
Professor Afua Hesse, the acting Chief Administrator of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said the need for the emergency centre could not be over emphasised, since managing both trauma and non-trauma emergencies had a combined positive effect on patients and the nation as a whole.
