The Minority in Parliament has raised a strong demand for the exemption of all health facilities across the country from the ongoing load shedding, following a tragic incident at the Tema General Hospital.
Juaboso Member of Parliament and ranking member on the health committee of Parliament, Kwabena Mintah Akandho, emphasised the critical need for uninterrupted power supply in healthcare institutions to prevent avoidable deaths.
The demand comes in the wake of a heart-wrenching incident where a nursing mother lost her three-day-old baby at the Tema General Hospital reportedly due to a power outage on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Rashida Abubakar Tetteh, the grieving mother, revealed that medical equipment failure during the blackout led to the loss of her newborn.
She recounted how doctors informed her about her child’s inability to survive due to the non-functional incubator caused by the power outage.
Expressing deep sorrow, the grandmother of the deceased baby, Rebecca Johnson, lamented the tragic consequences of the power cuts on innocent lives, questioning the readiness of healthcare facilities in handling such emergencies.
“I went to visit my son, but I didn’t see him. I was waiting outside when one doctor came to inform me that they were sorry, but due to the lights out, my child could not survive because the incubator was not working.
“The lights went off on Tuesday evening. No staff has spoken to me, and they haven’t said anything to me,” she narrated.
Grandmother of the deceased baby, Rebecca Johnson, also expressed grief over the development.
“It’s painful, they have killed my child because of dumsor; I am in pain. We have nothing to say to the hospital. A hospital like Tema General said they didn’t have petrol in the generator. Is this how we are going to act in this country,” she cried.
In response to these allegations, the Tema General Hospital refuted claims linking the power outage to the infant’s death, issuing a press release on Wednesday, March 27, to clarify the situation.
The hospital maintained its commitment to patient safety and wellbeing, reassuring the public of its dedication to providing quality healthcare services.
However, Mintah Akandoh, speaking on News Central on TV3, emphasised the necessity of investigating the incident to ascertain the true cause of the baby’s death.
He reiterated the urgent need to exempt all health facilities from load shedding and urged authorities to conduct power audits promptly.
“It will be very difficult for them to admit that it is due to the power cuts that caused the death of the baby, unless there is a probe into the matter you will not be able to establish the cause of the death of the baby. But that notwithstanding, it is a fact that every health facility needs electricity to be able to function well, it is also a fact that power cuts can lead to the death of patients so even if at that particular time it was not the power cuts that caused the death of the baby it is possible that power outages in other health facilities can cause deaths.
“So as a matter of urgency, we the Minorty side on the health committee and the minority as a whole, demand that all our health facilities must be exempted from this load-shedding going on, and then the Ministry together with the GHS must begin immediately power audits in the various health facilities.”
The opposition’s call underscores the vital role of consistent electricity supply in safeguarding lives within healthcare settings, urging swift action to prevent similar tragedies in the future.