Politicians Pay Lip Service To Health Sector But Use It As Cash Cow During Elections – Sarpong Asiedu

Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, a Democracy and Development Fellow on Public Health at CDD-Ghana, has accused political actors of providing verbal service to Ghanaians in the health sector.

In a Facebook post, the pharmacist attempted to comprehend why politicians frequently campaign on the back of the country's underdeveloped health sector, only to forsake it once elected.

"Why do we accept poorer health outcomes despite increased spending per capita?" On Saturday, he questioned why our legislators pay lip service to health while using it as a cash cow for voters.

Mr. Asiedu's outburst is a result of his research revealing that Rwanda has outperformed Ghana in terms of health indicators such as life expectancy at birth, maternal mortality rate, newborn mortality rate, under-five mortality rate, and survival to age 65 from 2017 to the present.

According to him, this data indicates that "38 percent of all Ghanaians surviving today will not reach their 65th birthday. By age 65, 33.4% of females and 42.4% of males will have passed away."

Rwanda's health expenditure per capita is $57.50, compared to Ghana's $84.98. As a result, Rwanda has been able to attain better results, he emphasized.

He then inquired, "Does this health outcome suggest that after 31 years, our democracy is yielding the expected dividend?"