“This will go a long way to save more lives,” she said at the handing over ceremony, attended by the chiefs and people of Jema. “It is not only the ambulance, I have also brought you quantities of medical supplies and equipment, with the support of our partners, MedShare USA, so that your doctors can give you quality treatment when you are sick and visit the hospital for care.”

Mrs Mahama said the development of Jema, and the Kintampo South as a whole, was of priority to the Mahama Government.  She said with the support from partners and sponsors of the Lordina Foundation, many health facilities in districts across Ghana, had also benefitted from similar support meant to improve the health of the citizenry.

She said the aim of these donations was to bridge the gap between the poor and the well-to -do, thereby ensuring universal health care. “Every human being can suffer health challenges,” she said. “This is why it is always important for people to have medical care nearby in our communities or workplaces”. Mrs Mahama explained that ambulance service and available medical supplies and equipment were critical for saving lives because it could make the difference between life and death.

“In case of emergency, the availability of an ambulance to evacuate a patient to a health facility or transfer them from a smaller facility to a bigger hospital can determine whether the patient survives or dies”.  She said the Jema District Hospital, which served residents of Kintampo South and its environs, therefore, needed the ambulance more than ever, to ensure speedy and safe transfer of patients to other health facilities.

She said the lack of an ambulance could cause pregnant women to lose their babies, or even develop other complications and die in the process of being moved to a bigger health facility. The First Lady described the health of the people as dear to her heart especially, that of women and children.    “This is due to the fact that women and children constitute the majority of Ghana’s population and have peculiar health challenges”.

She said the Government was investing massively in the health sector in the area of upgrading and building of new health facilities and the training of health professionals while boosting emergency services.  “The Ministry of Health revealed recently the government’s plans to add 200 more ambulances to the National Ambulance Service,” she said.

“ Also the establishment of the National Ambulance Service Training School has allowed the training of more than 500 Emergency Medical Technicians to provide first aid in these ambulances in emergency situations”. She used the occasion to urge all the people to promote peace as the country prepared to go to the polls on December 7.

  “All of us in this community must be peace ambassadors, championing the cause of peace and tolerance.”The Chief of Jema, Nana Okokyeredom Kudom, thanked the First Lady for her thoughtfulness about the healthcare needs of the people all over the country.He appealed to her to assist in walling the Hospital to protect it from activities of thieves as well as to help build a market for Jema.

Dr Amoako Gyampah, a Medical Director at the Jema District Hospital, who received the donation on behalf of the Hospital, expressed the happiness of the entire staff for the items, especially, the ambulance and promised to make good use of them.