NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, December 18, 2015

The ongoing power crisis is posing an even larger health disaster and it’s not certain Ghana can deal with it.

While most of the concern raised has been of manufacturing and mining companies suffering the incessant power shortages in Ghana, the country’s health sector is equally bearing the brunt. At some facilities, surgical operations have been indefinitely postponed and ventilators and incubators have become obsolete. Blood and related products are expiring earlier while critical diagnostic tests cannot be done.

Dr Kojo Nimako, a private medical practitioner with an interest in public health, lamented diabetics on refrigerated insulin were at risk. “They may be injecting drugs rendered impotent by the protracted power outages, Nimako said.