Mahama directs Health Ministry to establish Tamale cancer treatment centre as new cardio facility nears completion

John Dramani Mahama has asked the Ministry of Health to begin planning for the construction of a cancer treatment centre in Tamale. President Mahama said the ministry should "start looking at a cancer centre here in Tamale so that we don't have to send patients all the way down to the south to be able to receive specialised treatment". He made the announcement during a visit to the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

President Mahama was inspecting work on the new Cardiothoracic Centre, which he said would be the first of its kind in the Savannah area. He said he was satisfied with the rate of work and that all the equipment is available. The project was triggered by the death of a doctor in Kumasi who needed urgent angioplasty. The doctor needed the services of a cath lab, but the one in Kumasi was broken down, and the one in Accra had a fire incident and was out of service. The government decided to procure two catheterisation labs for Accra and Kumasi, then added a third for Tamale to improve national coverage. The facility is funded by the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, known as 'Mahama Cares'.

President Mahama said that the Cardiothoracic Centre should be completed soon, and the equipment will be installed. He said, "maybe by next year, we will all come back and commission the first Cardiothoracic Centre in the whole of the Savannah area". He predicted that the facility is going to be overwhelmed with patients and that patients even from Burkina Faso and other parts of the sub-region are going to come there to seek treatment.