Coronavirus: GHS denies extortion claims at Adentan Clinic

Officials from the Ghana Health Service(GHS) have denied claims of an alleged extortion at the Adentan Clinic, a private health Facility at the Adentan Municipality of the Greater Accra Region before the COVID -19 vaccine is administered to individuals.

According to the Ghana Health Service, the vaccination is entirely free and no health facility has been sanctioned to take money from individuals before administering the jab.

This is after a caller on the 3FM’s Sunrise Morning Show told Host of the Show, Alfred Ocansey, that her mother Madam Kakraba Yaa who resides in Adentan, together with other people numbering about 100 in a queue were charged GHC 1.00 each to be able to purchase forms to process them for the COVID-19 jab.

“Alfred Kakraba Yaa is my biological mother. There is a place called Adentan Clinic, I have already taken my first jab and we were going there to take the second jab and by my estimation I could count about 100 people who were just sitting there waiting for their turn, some 70 years and 80 years. We were told to pay GHC 1.00 each for them to print a new form”.

The caller continued that eventually, they were taken to another location to have the jab which never happened.

The incident occurred on Friday, 21st May, 2021.

“Later on the Senior Medical Officer at the Center there said that the location had been taken to another center which is located around the Frafraha area [Frafraha Community Clinic] within Adenta, yet the vaccine was not administered to us there”.

However, Dr Kwame Amponsah- Achiano, Programme Manager- Expanded Programme on Immunization of the Ghana Health Service stated categorically “ Mr. Ocansey please we have never submitted any forms to any facility, we are doing electronic data entry. However, I will still have to investigate this. Maybe Adentan Facility is a peculiar case but we never submitted any forms for which somebody will have to photocopy before the forms can be issued." He stated.

Meanwhile, the Adentan Municipal Health Director, Dr. Jeffrey Arhin who later on invited a reporter into a conference call with other officials of the Ghana Health Service said the matter has been investigated and found not to be true. According to the Municipal Director, He went on the ground to the Adentan Clinic and also the Frafraha Community Clinic and found no truth in the extortion allegations.

He however said, the GHS has stationed 6 Static sites and 2 mobile sites or vans at Adenta. “The team goes to schools and health facilities to vaccinate people. In this instance, the team moved from Frafraha Clinic to Adenta Clinic to do the vaccination.

These men are from Ghana Health Service. All the other people are private people including security at the place. The system is paperless so there is no way anybody can go and print forms. If anybody has evidence to that effect, he should come forward. He dared.