The Director-General (D-G) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, has called for an end to the widespread practice of patients needing connections or 'protocols' to access medical care across public hospitals in the country.He described the situation as unacceptable, stressing that every Ghanaian deserves equal access to healthcare, regardless of their social status or affiliation.Prof.
Samuel Kaba Akoriyea (fifth from left) with Mr Martin Adu Owusu (fifth from right), the GHS delegation team andNTC Management after the meeting Photo: Lizzy Okai"No Ghanaian should go to the hospital and need to know somebody before being treated.
That should be a thing of the past," Prof.
Akoriyea added.He made the remark yesterday during a courtesy call on the management of the New Times Corporation, publishers of The Ghanaian Times and Spectator newspapers in Accra.The visit was to familiarise with operations of the media house while forging partnership with it, to achieve his vision for the GHS upon his assumption to the high office.While assuring that the Service under his leadership, was committed to building a fair, equitable and accessible healthcare system, the D-G underscored the need for collective support to realise that goal.He acknowledged the crucial role of the media in shaping positive health seeking behaviours, particularly among the youth, urging it to partner with the GHS to promote preventive health initiatives for a healthier population."As a Service we cannot do it alone but when the media says something, it goes far and people buy into it so we will need your help as the media to help us highlight some of the vision we have particularly on health promotion to save our youth," he stressed.Prof.
