The flagbearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP)

“Our health system is really not a system because it is not working,” Nana Konadu said at the Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) Conversation Series on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Donor funding for AIDS dwindling

Despite the gloomy picture the former first lady painted about Ghana's health delivery system, she praised the effort of nurses and health professionals working under strenuous conditions.

Mrs Rawlings also took aim at the government's performance in the sector, attributing the outbreak of typhoid, yellow fever and yaws to 'incompetent governance.'

“Diseases that have been eradicated from our country have resurfaced; yellow fever, typhoid, yaws, scabies… all due to poor sanitation and incompetent governance.”

She added: “a single family, as in extended family, regardless of financial status that has not lost a family member to an illness or disease that could have been treated if timely proper care had been administered.”

Health professionals “are frustrated due to their inability to help save their patients as a result of ill-equipped hospitals and a bureaucracy that stifles their dedication.”

READ MORE: I dare not reveal new ideas; Mahama will steal them - Nana Addo

“We need to create a system that supports our dedicated healthcare service men and women whilst weeding out those who are guilty of malpractice,” she said.

“How can a nation that prides itself on peace and stability shaken by outbreaks of typhoid and cholera; diseases easily avoidable if our health and sanitation systems worked effectively.”