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Pressure mounts on 37, Police Hospitals

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The nationwide strike by doctors is taking a heavy toll on the existing security health care delivery outlets in Accra and parts of the country. Patients have crammed the 37 Military Hospital and the Police Hospital in Accra where the possibility of being attended to by a doctor is guaranteed. The security personnel are barred from going on strike and so too are their doctors. Checks by Joy News reporters indicate the facilities in the two hospitals have been overstretched. Patients are lying on bare floors with others on stretchers as hospital beds have all been taken over. Public Relations Officer at the Police Hospital, Juliana Obeng said tents have been mounted at the hospital to accommodate more patients. At the Military Hospital, doctors on leave have been asked to return to work to ease the enormous pressure being mounted on the few. Meanwhile, President John Mills has directed that medical supplies be made available to the health facilities as a measure to assuage the pressure at the various health posts. In a related development, Child Rights Advocate, Bright Appiah says children must not suffer the brunt of the doctor’s decision to go on strike. In a press release issued on Monday, Appiah said the doctor’s strike must not affect the children in any way. He argued that doctors have a constitutional obligation to children even if they have decided to withhold their services from the public. The following is the full detail of the press release by Bright Appiah Doctors Must Provide Services for Children Under 18years Child protection remains very critical to the development of the country as enshrined in the Constitution and Children’s Act 560. The section 2 (2) of the Children’s Act 560 states that“the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration by any court, person, institution or other body in any matter concerned with a child”. In view of this, all decisions should recognize this fundamental right as compulsory and obligatory all institutions in the country. The impasse between government and doctors are beginning to affect the right of children to healthcare. The role of doctors in the welfare of children is critical; therefore they must ensure that in the process of their decisions they provide maximum protection for children. Under no circumstance should the child be at risk and vulnerable in the process. Child Rights International therefore appeals to doctors to go to the table to isolate children from their decisions and provide health services for them as they discuss issues with government. CRI appeals to doctors to provide service for children in all the children’s departments in the hospitals all over the country. Our primary responsibilities as owners of the country are to reduce risk to children’s holistic well-being, make children’s rights a reality, restoring hope and dignified living and above all create the enabling environment that will support children’s positive development. Statement signed by Bright Appiah, Executive Director, Children’s Right International

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.