Mark Eghan, PhD

“It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong” - Carveth Read

@Ian_Khonje_ @StellenboschUni Congrats and welcome to SU alumni

If you’re reading this. We are graduating! @StellenboschUni

Happy 69th Independence Anniversary to the Republic of Ghana!

Neocolonialism, the last stage of imperialism!

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” — Seneca

@dr_bandak They are shifting blame to health workers. The system is broken. My personal experiences with hospitals in Ghana vs the quality of care elsewhere is incomparable

Passing an emergency care law can help, but no law by itself will end “no bed syndrome” if the system beneath it is still weak. We need an emergency system that actually works. That means the law must be tied to clear implementation requirements: ✓ Real-time referral coordination across facilities ✓ Mandatory triage and emergency stabilization before transfer ✓ Ambulance readiness with fuel, maintenance, and dispatch support ✓ Minimum emergency equipment and staffing standards by facility level ✓ Monthly public reporting of emergency response and referral performance ✓ Enforcement and accountability when facilities fail emergency protocols If the law only declares rights without funding, standards, data, or enforcement, it will become another headline, and the same failures will continue. This is bigger than a legal gap. It is a state capacity issue.

There’s a lot of applause for Parliament finally acknowledging that Ghana’s health system is in crisis. But recognition without accountability is not reform. For years, system level failures have compounded, yet the narrative is quietly shifting toward blaming frontline health workers who are already operating with constrained tools, limited diagnostics, and chronic understaffing. Yes, professional conduct matters. But quality care is ultimately a function of systems: financing, equipment, governance, and workforce support. A former classmate of mine trained to consultant level as a radiologist at a leading teaching hospital in South Africa and returned to Korle Bu, only to find himself without the equipment required to practice effectively. Today, his expertise is deployed in North America. These are not abstract issues. My late father drove himself to hospital feeling unwell, yet he was left paralyzed within an hour within a hospital facility. In 2020, it took personal intervention to secure a bed at Ridge Hospital for my mother-in-law after an accident. This is a structural failure, not an individual one. If we are serious about reform, then elected officials must be fully invested in the outcomes of the domestic system they oversee. One way to realign incentives is straightforward, prohibit publicly funded foreign medical treatment for elected officeholders. Leadership should not externalize the risks of a system they are mandated to strengthen. Systemic accountability begins where personal exemptions end.

2009 vs 2025, engaging with farmers …

Standing at the Temple of Heaven, Beijing: a reminder that progress is earned, not gifted. “You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car & phone until you earn both.” — Bill Gates That was completely valid in the old economy. Today, content creators and digital skills have changed the entry points, but the principle of earning your way still holds.

After listening to Sir Jonah on Gen. Acheampong’s stewardship of Ghana’s natural resources, I’m convinced he was the only President in Ghana’s history that had structural economics mindset. History hasn’t been fair to him. We rarely teach our own economic history, at least University of Ghana didn’t teach economic history during my undergraduate days. So there was a time when the state held 55% interest in resource exploration… how did we move from that to where we are now?

@niilante_okunka If you applied for passport over the past two decades, you would appreciate how far the country has come.

@dr_eghan ..but I got mine in 1 week a few years ago. Filled form online, got an appointment went to their office and took biometrics and pics and came back home to track progress of processing online till they got to the end and I got the alert to come pick up on the 8th day. Nothing new

One of the few proud moment as Ghanaian 🇬🇭. My daughter’s passport was delivered to our home in just 3 weeks through regular processing. No protocol, no shortcuts, just trusted the system and it worked. A strong reminder that when institutions function as intended, outcomes follow. Ghana will work again.

@thedarkcentaur If you have Akan friends, you would know Papa is a name

@dr_eghan Mother Eghan. Do you have a son called Father Eghan?

@Highest_45 @_mioamour You fill the form online and make payment via momo

@dr_eghan @_mioamour Do you have to fill the physical forms ? And also need the stamp from your guarantor @dr_eghan please I want to know before buying the forms

@Socrates0109139 We need to celebrate every small progress …

We complain about Cameroon, this guy is celebrating 3 weeks. In Cameroon its 72 hours maximum. Sometimes we need to read from other Africans and know not everything in our country is that terrible....

Since Bénin is trending, now is a good time to post this photo of me from Cotonou

Jin Liqun concludes his second term as President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (@AIIB_Official), marking a decade of leadership since the Bank’s establishment.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music - Friedrich Nietzsche

This is dark Pope Leo XIV warns the post-WWII rule that bans invading other countries is being destroyed. While Keir Starmer stays silent and sucks up to Trump, even the Vatican is saying it out loud: might is replacing law and that puts everyone at risk. ⚠️