Ghana plans to build 600 family planning centres

Ghana’s Ministry of Health (MOH) is to build 600 family planning centres as part of efforts to enhance healthcare delivery.

Additionally, the ministry will intensify public health education on how the public can protect themselves against contracting communicable and non-communicable diseases.

The health education will also focus on reducing teenage pregnancies, especially in rural communities.

Ms Sherry Ayittey, the Minister of Health, made this known at a press soiree in Accra to express her ministry’s appreciation to journalists for their dedication to duty and efforts to cover the ministry’s programmes and events in 2013.

Re-equiping Teaching Hospitals

According to the minister, the government’s programme to refurbish and re-equip the three teaching hospitals to enhance healthcare delivery was on course.

The hospitals are the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra; the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi and Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Ms Ayittey said the hospitals were being equipped with modern diagnostic machines which could detect all kinds of diseases. She said re-equipping the teaching hospitals was essential since they served as referral medical facilities.

Adolescent Reproductive issues

The minister called on the public to join the crusade to intensify education on reproductive and health issues concerning the youth. She also said the ministry had secured mobile scanning machines and indicated that midwives and nurses would be trained to use them on pregnant women, especially those in the rural areas, to reduce maternal and infant mortality cases.

Ms Ayittey also said the ministry would establish more blood centres in order to save lives.

She thanked the journalists for their support and appealed to them to continue to support the work of the ministry.

Source: Daily Graphic