Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has explained that Government’s Agenda 111, is arguably the largest investment in the country’s health care system closing the gaping lack of access to healthcare facilities, especially in remote areas of the country.

The Vice President said this when he inspected progress of work one of the dozens of new hospitals under construction across the country at Bunkprugu in the North East Region on Tuesday.

He said this was the first time a concerted effort has been made to ensure that every Ghanaian, irrespective of where they live, has access to a quality health facility within a relatively short distance.

“The Agenda 111 Project is to bridge a 60 year gap in access to health facilities across the country. 90 districts in our country do not have District Hospitals. Six Regions do not have Regional Hospitals. Large parts of our country do not have access to Specialist hospital facilities and services. This is despite over 60 years of being Independent.

“So the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took the bold decision to build these hospitals and meet the health care needs of the people of Ghana, to ensure that every District has a hospital and every Region has a Regional Hospital. This will greatly increase access to health care, prevent avoidable, preventable deaths and reduce the suffering of our people,” he added.

The Agenda 111 project involves the construction and/or upgrading of 101 district hospitals, construction of six regional hospitals in the newly created regions, two specialised hospitals in the middle and northern belts, as well as a regional hospital in the Western Region and renovation of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.

Officials of the Ministry of Health say the Project, when completed, will significantly deepen delivery of quality healthcare at the district level and boost access to healthcare services for all citizens towards ensuring the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal Three.

The Vice President had earlier inspected ongoing works at Savelugu and Yendi, both in the Northern Region, as part of the first leg of his working visit to the five northern regions of Ghana. He was accompanied by Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Presidential Adviser on Health, Hon Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior, and other government officials.