The Central Regional Chairman of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Justice Arthur is urging the government to rename and convert the COVID-19 levy into a fund that will allow it to deal with health emergency cases quickly.
He believes that when there are emergency cases, the levy collected into the Consolidated Fund becomes difficult to recoup.
Dr. Justice Arthur in an interview with Citi News called for the amendment of portions of the COVID-19 Levy Act 2021 to wean the levy off the Consolidated Fund.
“We always wait for emergencies before we look for funds, but if there is a fund that is always there that we access for emergencies, pandemics or even mass casualties, then there is something to fall on. So, we need a fund so that we can prepare and that funds can be used to procure ambulances, drugs and other items during emergencies so that we are not caught unawares”.
He also asked the government to consider using part of the reintroduced road tolls to set up health clinics near toll booths to deal with emergency cases from road crashes.
“Even the road tolls that we are bringing back, a portion can be used for these emergency spots along these major highways which are accident-prone, so these spots can provide first aid. When people see these things and see that it is being put to good use, I am sure they will be willing to pay”, he further added.
