An Analysis of Emergency Healthcare Delivery in Ghana: Lessons from Ambulance and Emergency Services in Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai District

This paper explores the benefits of planning a reliable and effective ambulance and emergency service towards healthcare delivery at the District level in Ghana. It addresses the question of what should be the focus of such  planning. A case study research design was adopted by employing detailed qualitative interviews with health  staff, operators of ambulance services, police officers, victims of accident and emergency and private  transport operators in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District. The study found that ambulance and emergency services were not effective and efficient due to poor planning. Other factors include the negative perception  that ambulances carry dead bodies, the demand for payment before patients are transported by ambulances, high cost of fuel, inadequate number of ambulances and the failure of emergency patients to pay the agreed  hospital bills and services. The study recommends public education on the ambulance and emergency services to rid off false perceptions. Planning must also explore how a district emergency fund can be set up to help alleviate the heavy financial burdens on patients and their families. Additionally, planning initiatives must promote the safety of accident and emergency victims by increasing the fleet of ambulance and emergency vehicles, improving upon the telephone and communication facilities and the training of more ambulance and health staff.Keywords: Ambulance, Emergency Services, Healthcare, Planning, Ghan

Poverty, adaptation and vulnerability: An assessment of women's work in Ghana's artisanal gold mining sector

This paper contributes to the debate on the link between poverty and artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) – low‐tech, labour‐intensive mineral extraction and processing – in sub‐Saharan Africa. It specifically seeks to advance discussion on the idea that throughout the region, the sector’s operators are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. Drawing upon ongoing research being conducted on marginalized women engaged in ASM in Ghana, an attempt is made to further nuance the ‘poverty trap‐ASM’ narrative. In the context of sub‐Saharan Africa, debates on this issue should focus on the challenges faced by marginalized groups such as women, in particular how their growing dependence upon monies earned from the sector for their livelihoods has increased their vulnerability