We need an Emergency Medical Care Fund – Paediatric Society of Ghana

The President of the Paediatric Society of Ghana wants the government to set up an emergency medical care fund to alleviate the plight of road accident victims.

Dr John Adabie-Appiah spoke of what doctors go through in their bid to ensure accident victims survive and how lack of funds has been a major setback in their fight.

Speaking on the JoyNews‘ AM Show on the back of JoyNews Hotline Documentary, ‘Crushed Young’ which focuses on how children lose their lives or suffer a disability as a result of a road accident, the visibly worried doctor said, “We need to have a system where all road traffic accident victims can be identified.”

“We need insurance companies to quickly come in and provide support for their medical bills as the National Health Insurance doesn’t cover these costs.

Nine lives are lost daily to carnage on Ghana’s roads, a situation described by many as worrying.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics show that a child dies through road accidents every four minutes. Though the government and other stakeholders have adopted several campaigns and strategies, including the media, the situation seems not to improve.

Adding his voice for calls for support, Dr Adabie-Appiah said, “those providing care also need psychosocial support while handling accident victims.https://www.youtube.com/embed/ioMGIJARpmA

“We only provide financial support for 24 hours, and then the families have to go round looking for funding for these victims. So we need an Emergency Medical Care Fund to cater for these people.”

He added, “Overall, we need a policy, especially for children. We don’t have that. If we are talking about children being the future, we need to place their needs first. It’s a call for all of us to check how we finance medical care, especially after road accidents”.

His call was supported by the producer of Crushed Young, Seth Kwame Boateng.

Source: myjoyonline.com