Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has commended the efforts made by the health ministry and its affiliate bodies in issuing preventive directives to reduce the spread of a series of outbreaks that emerged at the beginning of his tenure.
Akandoh shared his views while speaking at the third edition of the Government Accountability Series, which was held at the Jubilee House on Friday, July 18, 2025 – where he reflected on the progress made by the ministry so far.
A number of disease outbreaks such as Cholera, Mpox, and Meningitis were recorded at the beginning of his tenure as Health Minister. “Ladies and Gentlemen as you all know, emergencies cannot wait and you recall when I took office as a minister, instead of the usual courtesies, I was greeted with outbreaks, meningitis here, cholera there, mpox and all that.” he stated.
The minister looks forward to devising a number of initiatives to ensure the containment of these outbreaks.
“We cannot completely avoid that, but how to manage it as and when it comes, is what is very important.”
The minister revealed that the ministry has made strategic partnerships with a number of bodies and associations to launch an emergency response initiative purposefully for underserved communities. In addition to this , he assured that the ministry will improve ambulance access as talks presently hold for an expansion of the fleet for a sufficient number to attend to the emergency needs of communities nationwide.
“To strengthen emergency response at the community level, the National Ambulance Service is partnering with St. John’s Ambulance service to establish a pool of community first responders. I want to mention that we have initiated procedures to repair ambulances that have broken down and in addition, we are also exploring opportunities to expand the fleet.”
