President John Dramani Mahama has outlined a vision to establish specialised medical centres of excellence in underserved regions across Ghana, saying the country can no longer afford a situation where patients in the north, the Volta Region and the Western Region have to travel to Accra or Kumasi for specialist treatment.
The President made the case on Sunday at the ResettingGhana citizens engagement at the University for Development Studies in Tamale, using the ongoing construction of a cardiothoracic centre at the Tamale Teaching Hospital as the foundation for a broader argument about equitable access to specialised healthcare.
President Mahama said the model he was pursuing was one he had previously applied at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where his earlier administration established plastic surgery, oncology and cardiothoracic units to build a hub of specialist care.
He said it was now time to replicate and spread that approach to regions that had long been left behind.
“We are going to continue building centres of excellence in our teaching hospitals, especially in underserved areas like the North and also in the Volta Region. We must have centres like this in Volta Region and in Western Region so that geographically we are able to cover all our people,” he said.
In Tamale specifically, the President said the next facility on his agenda was an oncology centre of excellence to treat the growing number of cancer cases being recorded in the north, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer.
Currently, patients with these conditions have no treatment option in the five northern regions and must make the long journey south for radiotherapy and other specialised care.
“We will look to build an oncology centre of excellence in Tamale so that anybody with prostate cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, any of the cancers that are becoming more visible, will be able to seek treatment,” he said.
The cardiothoracic centre currently under construction at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, which will be the first of its kind across all five northern regions, is being funded through the Ghana Medical Trust and Mahama Cares.
The President said all the equipment for the facility was already procured and waiting for the construction work to be completed, with a commissioning expected next year.
The President said the vision extended beyond the north, signalling that similar facilities were being planned for other underserved regions to ensure that no Ghanaian was disadvantaged by geography when their life depended on specialist medical care.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
