Dear Hon Minister,
This past week, the health community in Ghana was shaken by the tragic death of a 47-year-old emergency physician. He suffered a myocardial infarction and urgently required percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). What does this mean?
He had a “heart attack” because one of the blood vessels that supplies his heart was blocked. To save his life, doctors needed to quickly do a special procedure to open the blocked vessel and restore blood flow.
This is usually done by passing a small tube through a blood vessel in the hand or leg to reach the heart, then using a balloon or placing a tiny metal tube (called a stent) to keep the blood vessel open.
However, as fate and systemic failure would have it, there was no catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). Painfully, he died before gaining access to intervention in Accra. This doctor had spent all his life saving people, yet when his country had that one chance to come to his rescue, the system failed him!
This story must not die today! Someone has to bell the cat! The recent ventilator debacle in the Tamale Teaching Hospital is fresh on our minds. How long will our hospitals run as though they are on life support? Is this the reason why our politicians fly abroad, knowing the shambolic system we have in the country? How come a whole Ashanti region could not have a cath lab? How?
Clearly, even being wealthy is not enough to stay alive in Ghana. In most instances your chances of survival are determined by your proximity to Accra. This Accra-centric healthcare system must stop! All Ghanaians deserve better.
Ghana, with over 35 million people, cannot claim to be building a resilient health system when the second-largest referral hospital in the country lacks a functioning cath lab. We are losing lives not to the complexity of disease, but to a failure in basic emergency response architecture.
We are calling on your leadership to initiate the following five (5) steps with urgency and moral clarity:
1. Put a Moratorium on Agenda 111 for the Next 18 Months
Agenda 111’s long-term value is not in question. However, pouring scarce capital into new structures without equipping existing referral centres perpetuates a facade of reform. The priority must shift immediately to upgrading core emergency infrastructure in regional and tertiary hospitals.
2. Launch a National Equipment Mobilization Campaign
We propose a government-led, globally supported Ghana Health Infrastructure Emergency Fund. This should invite contributions from bilateral partners, diaspora networks, and philanthropic entities to purchase critical diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, including cath labs. Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has already shown the potential of community-driven equipment acquisition. The Ministry should coordinate and scale this model nationwide with transparency and clear targeting of gaps.
3. Disclose the Current State of Healthcare: A “State of the Health System” Address
Ghanaians deserve to know the actual condition of their health infrastructure. We need a national televised address, backed by verified data, to outline:
• Where critical gaps exist (beds, cath labs, oxygen plants, imaging equipment, etc.)
• Regional disparities in emergency care
• The government’s roadmap for fixing these deficits over the next 24 months
This will build trust and accountability while galvanising action from all sectors of society.
4. Set Up at Least Four Regional Cath Labs Within 12 Months
We propose immediate investment in setting up cath labs in 4 nodal regions:
• Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (Ashanti)
• Tamale Teaching Hospital (Northern)
• Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (Central)
• Ho Teaching Hospital (Volta)
Estimated Cost:
A basic cath lab in a low-resource setting typically requires $500,000 to $1 million for procurement, installation, and initial training.
• Equipment (X-ray, fluoroscopy, hemodynamic monitoring): $350,000 to $700,000
• Lead-lined room construction and shielding: $100,000
• Staffing, training, maintenance, and regulatory compliance: $100,000 to $200,000
Total: $2 million to $4 million for four functional regional cath labs.
5. Integrate Pharmacists into Emergency and Specialist Care Systems (#HirePharmacistsNow)
There are hundreds of trained clinical pharmacists in Ghana currently underutilised or unemployed. These professionals can lead medication therapy management, pharmacovigilance, and anticoagulation clinics that are essential for cardiology and stroke care. This call is not about creating new payroll burdens. It is about using existing human health resources more intelligently and urgently.
Hon Minister, the health system failed a man who would have otherwise survived in any adequately equipped setting. The weight of this failure must not be dismissed or absorbed into routine condolences. We are asking you to lead from the front, speak to the nation, and act with resolve.
Let us honor his memory by demanding accountability and action. Share his story. Speak out for improved working conditions, systemic support, and transparent processes that protect both those who heal and those who are healed.
On Sunday, let his story stir our collective conscience and inspire meaningful change across Ghana.
Respectfully,
Sekyi-Brown Reginald (✍🏿Pharmacist)
Chairperson of the Early Career Pharmaceutical Group (ECPG-PSGH)
