After almost three years of construction, the first phase of construction on the permanent campus for the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Green Valley, a suburb of Sokode-Lokoe near Ho, is ready for use.
The completed facility includes the central administration block and facilities for the School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences.
These facilities are lecture halls, laboratories, auditorium and residential facilities for students and staff.
The edifice is one of the five schools currently being operated by UHAS. Other schools yet to be started by the university are the School of Pharmacy, School of Sports and Exercise Medicine, School of Dentistry, Institute of Medical Education and Institute of Traditional and Alternative Medicine.
Speaking at a brief handing over ceremony, the Volta Regional Minister, Helen Adwoa Ntoso, praised the Chinese Government for funding the project. She also commended the contractors, China Yanjian Group Company, for executing the job to perfection.
The minister received the keys from the contractors on behalf of government and announced that President John Dramani Mahama would soon commission the facility officially for the university to fully occupy and use it.
The Pro Vice-Chancellor of UHAS, Professor Edwin Kwame Wiredu, who received the keys to the facility on behalf of the university from the minister, was grateful to the Governments of Ghana and China for the project and pledged that the facility would be put to good use.
He also noted that the facility is a great source of motivation for the university to strive hard to achieve higher laurels and compete effectively with other major universities in the world.
Professor Wiredu was hopeful that the Hohoe campus of the university, which houses the School of Public Health, would also see some work on its permanent site at Fodome.
The university which started with 155 students in 2012 currently has a total student population of about 1,009, excluding yet-to-be admitted students for the coming academic year. It also started its sandwich programme a few months ago and emerged winner in a recent quiz competition involving five other older tertiary institutions, namely, the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Cape Coast, College of Health, Kintampo and the Premier School of Medical Laboratory Technology. The competition was organised by the National Health Students’ Association of Ghana (NAHSAG).
In 2013 UHAS came second out of 32 institutions that took part in the fourth edition of TV Africa’s ‘Knowing Africa’ competition.
The young university has also been certified by the World Health Organisation to lead the Ebola Vaccine Trials in Ghana.
According to the Vice Chancellor, Prof Fred Newton Binka, the Ebola trial by UHAS has placed UHAS on the world map and reinforces the vision of the school to become a leading research and practical-based science institution in the world.
By Fred Duodu, Ho (freduoo@gmail.com)