Health system stressed due to patronage by Ivorian nationals – MCE
Mr Iddrissa Ouattara, the Dormaa Central Municipal Chief Executive, on Monday said that the health system of the Municipality was under stressed due to patronage by Ivorian nationals due to its proximity with Cote d’Ivoire.
He said there therefore need to strengthen surveillance at the border due to the cross-border movement for commercial activities in order to avert the transfer of communicable diseases.
Additionally, he said the drop in immunisation coverage has led to the tag on the Municipality as being “non-performing at the regional level”.
The MCE appealed to stakeholders to come together to support the Municipal Health Directorate, through community engagement with opinion leaders to help the Directorate bring up strategies to improve health services in the area.
Mr Ouattara said this at the Expanded Programme on Immunisation and Surveillance Situation in the Dormaa Municipality organised by the Dormaa Municipal Health Directorate.
The meeting was aimed at undertaking review of activities regarding expanded programme on immunisation and surveillance activities in the Dormaa Central Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region.
He appealed to the chiefs to liaise with the Transport Unions to ensure that mothers who are referred during labour are transported to the big hospitals in the Municipality.
The MCE indicated that the Assembly was making all efforts as a matter of urgency to hand over the keys of the Reproductive Child Health facility, a project which has been stalled for several years to the Directorate after it has been completed.
He said health facilities and Community based Health Planning Services(CHPs) projects, which were not completed by the previous government would be given priority during his tenure.
Mr Ouattara said he has taken notice of the transportation challenges which was one of the major hindrances to achieving the set goals and targets, and pledged to address those challenges.
Dr Osei Kuffour Affreh, the Deputy Director, Brong Ahafo Regional Health Service, reiterated government’s commitment to providing quality health services to all Ghanaians through the intervention of various policies and programmes.
“Government is serious about fighting diseases hence, especially with an increase in childhood killer diseases despite the corresponding increase of vaccines to immunise children against these diseases”, he added.
Madam Florence Iddrissa, the Dormaa Municipal Health Director, noted that mortality rate in Dormaa Municipal was 25 deaths per 1000 live births which was more than the regional average of 12.5 per 1000 live births”.
“The average immunisation coverage for most antigens, in the last three years in the Municipality was 76.6 per cent as compared to the national target of 90 per cent
“And surveillance on most communicable diseases are below targets”, she added.
Madam Iddrissa stated that in spite of the numerous institutional challenges which has bedevilled the Directorate it has chalked successes in rolling out CHPS to all 30 electoral areas, maintained under five malnutrition at less than seven per cent and has improved nurse population ratio from 1:1,600 to 1:1,300 to in five years.
The Municipal Health Director stated that since 2008, the Municipality has not recoreded neonatal tetanus, and added that there was still the need and urgency to ensure that children in the area were fully immunised to ensure that diseases which had not been in over 20 years will not re-emerge.
She also noted that the meeting would allow health workers from the Regional Health Directorate, World Health Organisation (WHO),neighbouring districts, Cote d’Ivoire and NGOS in health, to engage community leaders from the Municipality to appraise performance and discuss strategies for improving immunisation and surveillance services in the Municipality.
Mr Isaac Appiah, the General Manager, Dormaa Presbyterian Hospital, urged planners to think about constructing accommodation facilities in deprived communities to motivate health personnel to work in those communities particularly where there are CHPS compound.
He advised nurses to be courteous, polite and well behaved when offering services to patients at the hospitals because they will one day render an account of their stewardship to their Maker.
The review meeting was sponsored by the World Health Organisation in partnership with the Ghana Health Service and the Dormaa Municipal Health Directorate.
Source: GNA