A Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, has taken aim at successive governments for prioritizing hospital construction while neglecting the core issues plaguing Ghana’s health sector.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, he revealed that just 5% of consultation rooms in the country are properly equipped for diagnosis.

“We should stop the political dishonesty,” he stated plainly during the discussion.

He backed his claims with evidence from authoritative sources, pointing out that the concerns he shares with Ghana Medical Association (GMA) General Secretary Richard Salomey are not mere opinions, but documented realities.

“Because whatever Richard Salomey… is saying and whatever I’m saying are in documents like I have referred to.”

He cited the Holistic Assessment of Health Program of Works, a segment of the broader Health Harmonisation Assessment Report, which has the endorsement of Ghana’s Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, the Global Fund, and the World Health Organisation.

“It is not me saying it,” Sarpong Asiedu clarified. “It is in the report that was commissioned by the Government of Ghana… So it’s an internationally accepted report.”

According to this report, only a fraction—5%—of consultation rooms nationwide are equipped to perform proper diagnoses.

Despite this alarming finding, Sarpong Asiedu lamented that administrations have turned a blind eye to the data, continuing instead to invest heavily in hospital buildings that lack the infrastructure to function effectively.

“We jettisoned that report and went into building hospitals,” he said with dismay.

He urged health professionals to be forthright with policymakers, especially the Health Minister, stressing the responsibility they have to advocate for meaningful reform.

“That is what I say, that as health professionals, this is what we should be telling the policymakers and the ultimate spenders, which in this case is the Health Minister.”

For him, failing to act on the findings of such critical assessments should come with consequences.

“If you make these decisions which are at variance with what the health assessment reports say, then we would walk away. It’s as simple as that.”

Touching on leadership in the health sector, Sarpong Asiedu addressed the recent removal of the Tamale Teaching Hospital’s CEO, noting he found it difficult to sympathize.

“That’s why I struggle to support the sacked CEO of the Tamale Teaching Hospital,” he said.

He criticized sector leaders for remaining silent while reports outlining major deficiencies sat unaddressed.

“We have our colleagues sitting and superintending when what is in the reports is not being done,” he pointed out. “Now you find yourself in confrontation with the Minister, I cannot support you.”

He added that his position on the matter was consistent and previously expressed.

“That’s why I spoke out when those reports came out, to say nobody should be working under those facilities.”

To Sarpong Asiedu, there’s an undeniable and dangerous gap between the facts health experts have laid out and the political decisions being made.

“How do you sit down when those reports say what they say?” he asked. “We are building structures and calling them hospitals, but inside, they cannot treat.”