Locked-up medicines at port: You're not correct; you've lost sight of why you're there to serve the people — Nana Ofori blasts MoH

Nana Ofori Owusu has criticized the Ministry of Health (MoH) for its failure to promptly clear and distribute essential medicines supplied by the Global Fund to treat diseases in Ghana.

The medicines, donated to Ghana, have been locked-up at the port for months, with little action taken to expedite their clearance and delivery to health facilities where they are desperately needed.

In an interview on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Isaac Offei Baah, cited technical challenges as the cause of the delay.

However, Nana Ofori Owusu, the PPP National Chairman questioned how crucial medicines could be left to good bad at the port due to administrative inefficiencies.

"We have to solve our problems in a timely manner. Solving problems is about time. You can't solve a problem two years after the thing has occurred. People want real-time solutions to real problems. This is what we expect from leadership, not to tell us that there were some 10 meetings that went on. Who cares about that? We are looking for aggressive solutions.

"The people (Global Fund) threaten us that they won't bring us any more medicines and all of a sudden we get action on things that will protect and save our own lives. It's beyond reproach that you cannot even understand it and then it makes you so sick to the stomach that we don't take matters that affect us as people seriously,” Nana Ofori expressed.

Nana Ofori Owusu also criticized the focus on warehousing the cleared medicines instead of immediate distribution to patients in need.

He said, “Instead of the authorities being concerned with when actual distribution will take place - where the citizens will hold it and use it to their benefit; that doesn't concern nobody but rather warehouse distribution without the human beings. Have you seen that we are not correct?"

He called for accountability from the authorities, urging them to provide clear timelines for the delivery of the medicines to ensure they reach those who need them most.

"That is what they should be held accountable for; so when will this thing get into the hands of the Ghanaian? That's the timelines, the dates they should be telling us, not when it is going to go into a warehouse. You have lost sight of why you are there to serve the people.”