The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has disclosed that only five per cent of health facilities across Ghana currently have the full range of medical equipment required to deliver quality healthcare services.

He said the shortage of essential medical equipment remains one of the most pressing challenges facing the country’s health sector, affecting the efficiency of hospitals, clinics and primary healthcare centres nationwide.

Mr Akandoh made the remarks after touring the Mother and Child Hospital in Kasoa as part of ongoing assessments of healthcare infrastructure and service delivery across the country.

Addressing journalists after the visit, the minister admitted that many health facilities are operating under difficult conditions due to inadequate equipment, describing the situation as a major concern inherited by the current administration.

“The equipment status in this country is very, very poor, and that is what I inherited,” he stated.

He explained that the government has begun implementing measures to improve conditions in the sector, particularly at the primary healthcare level, through the procurement and distribution of medical equipment to facilities across the country.

According to him, although the challenges cannot be resolved immediately, the ministry has already started deploying equipment to help strengthen healthcare delivery.

“We have bought a number of quantities of health equipment and hospital equipment that we are distributing across the length and breadth of this country. We cannot do all at once, but we have started,” he added.

Mr Akandoh further revealed that official data available to the ministry indicates that only five per cent of health facilities currently have the full complement of equipment needed to function effectively, underscoring the scale of the challenge confronting Ghana’s healthcare system.