The Ministry of Health (MoH) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance has met with the private sector to seek support for the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Project (CLIP) to enhance clinical services. The project, which formed part of a strategy to reform Ghana’s hospital sector, would help to improve access to quality and affordable diagnostics services in healthcare facilities across the country.
Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health, speaking at the market-sounding event, said CLIP was expected to enhance the laboratory capacity of the existing regional hospitals to enable them to offer a wide range of diagnostic services.
He said, “this will curtail the agony patients go through by travelling across regions for some specific diagnostic services.”
Mr Agyeman-Manu said laboratory diagnostics played a pivotal role in the country’s efforts to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
To this end, the project would be undertaken first in the regional hospitals or designated facilities in each region as selected by the Ministry and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), he stated.
Mr Agyeman-Manu noted that CLIP aligned with the provision of the National Health Policy 2020 and the National Health Laboratory 2030 aimed at increasing geographical access to affordable health services, including laboratory services.
“Our thinking is that every region should have at least five viable quality health diagnostic centres,” he said.
He said Ghana’s efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage would not be possible if there were weaknesses in the laboratory services, hence the need for strategic partnerships with the private sector to expand health services.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, in a speech read on his behalf, said the market-sounding event provided an opportunity to engage the private sector stakeholders to obtain feedback on the feasibility of the proposed CLIP.
He said as part of the Public, Private Partnership (PPP) process, market sounding was required before the procurement processes.
This is to ensure a comprehensive stakeholder engagement to promote the project to prospective heddles and financiers and to get inputs from other relevant stakeholders, in line with section 38 2a of the Public-Private Partnership Act, she stated.
Mr Ofori-Atta explained that the project was expected to cover rehabilitation, co-management, and cooperation of selected laboratories in all sixteen regions of Ghana. He revealed that the government was pursuing a reviewed focus on leveraging the private sector to improve service delivery in general.
Story by: Fada Amakye From Otec fm
