Some Persons with Disability (PwDs) in the Ashanti Region have protested government’s failure to build an orthopedic treatment facility for them.
According to the group, government has over the years reneged on its promises to provide quality healthcare for PwDs.
The current facility for treatment is dilapidated, wears an old painting, benches and tables as furniture, and completely dysfunctional equipment. An uneven road worsens their access to the facility.
Members of the group took to the streets of Kumasi in their prosthetics legs, wheel chairs and crutches to register their displeasure and present a petition to the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services.
Speaking with JoyNews on Friday, Group lead, Vera Kusi Asamoah, who described the situation as disheartening said, “the situation over here is not good at all, we don’t have technicians well trained and committed and lack of mechanism to operate.”
She complained that the road leading to orthotics and prosthetics centre is terrible, thus hindering their access to the already dilapidated structure.
Madam Asamoah said the equipment at the centre are all malfunctioning, “we don’t have chairs to sit on… over here we don’t have any good chairs, we sit on benches which is not good for us,” she lamented.
Receiving their petition, the Director of Health Services, Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang admitted that the region could not boast of a facility for Persons with Disability.
He therefore assured that plans are afoot to improve the quality of health delivery.
“We don’t have a good centre in Ashanti Region, it is so dilapidated and its not good for purpose. So, we took a decision that we will use part of the old Bekwai hospital as a new centre at least for orthotics and prosthetics.
“We have started the process, I have sent a couple of letters to the Director General to see whether we can indicate a new centre, because the one we have in Ashanti region is not good for purpose,” he said.
He assured the PWDs to expect swift response from the government.
“I believe that we have to get at least a new orthopedic hospital as part of agenda 111, so if we can convert some of the orthopedic hospital to support you.
“We will take your petition and put a covering letter on it and send it to our Director General and I believe he will follow it up,” he assured.