NLA pledges support to equip Regional, Teaching hospitals
The Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Mohammed Abdul-Salam, has pledged the Authority’s commitment to finding sustainable ways to equip Ghana’s regional and teaching hospitals.
He assured the Ghana Medical Trust Fund that the NLA would collaborate to provide essential medical equipment and resources nationwide.
The assurance was made during a courtesy visit on Wednesday, October 22, by the Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Obuobia Darko-Opoku, and her team to Mr Abdul-Salam and his Deputy, Eric Yeboah Wadie.
During discussions on enhancing healthcare delivery, Ms Darko-Opoku highlighted the urgent need to upgrade facilities nationwide. She noted that many hospitals operate under dire conditions, lacking essential diagnostic and treatment equipment such as MRI and CT scan machines, dialysis units and breast screening facilities.
Ms Darko-Opoku explained that the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, established under Act 114, has begun a comprehensive needs assessment of all six teaching hospitals and ten regional hospitals in Ghana. The findings reveal significant gaps in equipment and infrastructure that require urgent attention.
“Our health facilities are on their knees, and we can no longer pretend about it. When you visit some of these hospitals, you leave wondering how our healthcare system is surviving. The Government alone cannot carry the burden. We are inviting corporate institutions to partner with us in retooling our hospitals so that together we can make a lasting difference,” she said.
Ms Darko-Opoku urged the NLA to consider supporting specific hospital projects as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, emphasising that such partnerships would have a lasting impact on healthcare delivery in Ghana.
In response, the Director-General of the NLA, Mr Mohammed Abdul-Salam, commended the Ghana Medical Trust Fund for its commitment to improving healthcare and assured them of the NLA’s willingness to collaborate.
He stated that the Authority’s leadership is open to exploring mechanisms for regular contributions to the Fund as part of its CSR framework.
“I believe strongly that if we treat healthcare funding as a shared responsibility, we can achieve great things together. The idea of supporting the Ghana Medical Trust Fund aligns perfectly with our CSR objectives. We could even consider adopting one project at a time and seeing it through to completion,” Mr Abdul-Salam stated.
He further noted that partnerships like this reinforce the broader national agenda of using proceeds from the lottery to support good causes and improve the well-being of Ghanaians.
