Concentration of health facilities in city did not improve health delivery – MP

Mr Imoro Yakubu, Chairman of the Committee on Poverty Reduction Strategy said the concentration of health facilities in the city centres did not result in improved health delivery in the urban areas.

He said the high rate of mortality in the country especially in the urban areas where health facilities were assumed to be reasonably available was worrying.

Mr Yakubu, who is also the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Kumbungu, made the remarks on the floor of Parliament when he presented the 2007 and 2008 Report on the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II).

He said out of the 1,855 doctors in 2008, 1,322 representing 71.3 per cent were concentrated in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.

Mr Yakubu said the doctor patient ratio on regional basis varied from 1: 5,177 in Greater Accra to 1:70,744 in the Northern Region.

He said to bring the situation under control, health facilities in the deprived areas must be improved and incentive packages made available to attract trained health personnel to those areas.

He said the retiring age of health professionals must be reviewed to allow them, especially doctors and midwives, to serve after attaining their retiring age in order to augment the number of active health personnel in the country.

Source: GNA