I will build and deploy a new hospital ship when elected – Mahama

Former President John Mahama is intensifying his campaign for a comeback in 2021 with a promise to build a hospital ship to improve healthcare delivery if elected on December 7, 2020.

“We will build a new Onipa Nua Hospital Ship and deploy it to provide medical services to the inaccessible riverine and fishing communities on the inland Volta waterways,” Mr Mahama said.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate made the promise on Thursday, June 18, 2020, during one of his Facebook Live sessions.

He made the promise to build and deploy the hospital ship after criticizing President Nana Akufo-Addo for abandoning some of his innovative policies that were aimed at improving healthcare delivery in the country.

He blamed the current administration for abandoning the Onua Do Mobile Vans that his administration introduced in 2015.

“These were vans meant to provide medical outreach services…in underserved and hard to reach areas of the country. But the vans have been left at the vagaries of the weather,” he stated.

He said the vans were designed to deliver specialized services in ophthalmology, dentistry, mammograms and general medicine by visiting rural and far-to-reach communities of the country but they have not been put to that use since he left office.

He said since the Akufo-Addo government has deliberately abandoned the specialized vans at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

He, therefore, promised to rehabilitate these dilapidated mobile clinics and expand the number to care for all 16 regions of the country to enable government “take healthcare to the doorsteps of all our people, even in the remotest parts of our country”.