The Minority in Parliament has called on the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to conduct power audits in all health facilities across the country to ensure they have uninterrupted electricity supply even during national grid outages.
They also demand that health facilities be exempted from the current load shedding.
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Juaboso Member of Parliament and ranking member on the health committee of Parliament, emphasized the urgency of this action, highlighting the potential for avoidable deaths in health facilities due to power cuts. He referenced a recent incident where a nursing mother lost her three-day-old baby at the Tema General Hospital allegedly due to a power outage.
While the Tema General Hospital denied that the power outage led to the baby’s death, Akandoh stressed the importance of investigating such incidents to determine the true cause. He acknowledged that regardless of whether this specific case was linked to the power outage, electricity is essential for the proper functioning of health facilities, and power cuts can indeed result in patient fatalities.
In response to the situation, the Minority is demanding that all health facilities be exempted from load shedding and that immediate power audits be conducted. These audits would ensure that health facilities have backup power systems in place to prevent disruptions to critical medical equipment and services during power outages.
The Minority’s call underscores the critical importance of reliable electricity supply in healthcare settings and the need for proactive measures to safeguard patients’ lives.