Day: June 25, 2024

Nine pregnant women have died during skill deliveries in the Bono region this year, Dr Prince Quarshie, the Deputy Director, Public Health, Bono Regional Health Director has said.

He said hemorrhage or excessive bleeding were the major factors which contributed to the deaths and urged pregnant women to eat well and attend antenatal clinics regularly.

Dr Quarshie was speaking at a stakeholder’s engagement meeting on immunization and Out-Patient Department (OPD) attendance in Sunyani.

He said six of the deaths were direct (labour complications) while the other three occurred as a result of other related diseases including HIV/AIDS.

The Regional Directorate organised the meeting attended by religious, traditional and opinion leaders, civil society organisations and actors, transport unions, associations and some health workers.

It was aimed at seeking active support from the participants to improve low turnouts in immunization and OPD attendances at the various public health facilities in the region.

Descr
ibing maternal deaths as unacceptable, Dr Quarshie said the directorate required public support to bring the deaths to the barest minimum.

He cautioned the public, particularly pregnant women against self-medication and advised everybody to visit health facilities when they fell sick or experienced abnormalities in their body system.

Dr Quarshie said with support from stakeholders, the region could be able to achieve improved health outcomes, saying the directorate alone could not shoulder the responsibility of providing quality health provision in the region.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The management of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi has expressed its disappointment over the strike embarked by some doctors at the oncology directorate to demand the repair of a broken-down machine.

The Oncologists laid down their tools on Monday June 24, this year, to protest the delay in the restoration of the LINAC machine required for the treatment of cancer patients at the directorate

The Management of the hospital has described the action as needless and lack of appreciation of the efforts being made to restore the LINAC machine.

Mr Kwame Frimpong, Public Relations Officer of the hospital told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Kumasi that, the doctors were aware of the various steps and processes management had gone through to repair and restore the machine.

He said the hospital had placed an order for a brand-new water phantom needed for the calibration on the LINAC, awaiting delivery.

He explained that the purchase of the phantom required KATH bankers and the bankers of
the supplier to both agree on the Letters of Credit (LC), which process the hospital did not control.

Mr Frimpong said KATH management had already released an amount of $109,000 to purchase the water phantom equipment needed for the calibration of the LINAC machine used in the treatment of cancer patients at the oncology directorate of the hospital.

He said prior to placing order for the water phantom, efforts to repair the broken down one or bring down one from Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to do the calibration yielded no results.

Mr Frimpong pointed out that all these actions and others had been painstakingly explained to the doctors at the directorate and management was, therefore, disappointed at the turn of events.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ten cases of measles have been recorded in the Bono Region from January to June this year, Dr Prince Quarshie, the Deputy Director, Public Health at the Bono Regional Directorate of Health has said. In 2023, the region recorded 14 cases, stated, and expressed worry about declines in immunization coverages in the region over the past three years.

Speaking at a stakeholder’s engagement meeting in Sunyani on immunization coverage and Out-Patient Department (OPD) attendance cases, Dr Quarshie appealed to all stakeholders to help improve immunization coverage in the region.

The Directorate organised the engagement to rally support of the participants to improve health outcomes in the region.

It was attended by religious and traditional leaders, associations, transport unions, civil society organisations and actors.

Dr Qaurshie indicated that immunization was a proven tool for controlling and eliminating life threatening infectious diseases, averting between 2 million and 3 million deaths each year.

However, h
e added that coverage in the region had diminished in the region over the past three years, saying the directorate required active support from everybody to the regional immunization performance.

On OPD cases, Dr Quarshie said attendance in the region had also seen a sharp decline, and which also required a concerted approach to improve it.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The chiefs and people of Adaklu Kodzobi in the Adaklu District of the Volta Region have been commended for their efforts to eradicate malaria in the community and keeping the environment clean.

The community hosted a delegation of medical professionals from over 30 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, Northern and Southern America, which gave a good account of itself in terms of cleanliness.

Professor Evelyn Korkor Ansah, the Director, Centre for Malaria Research, Institute of Health Research, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), gave the commendation when she led a team from the Centre of Malaria Research of UHAS to thank the community for hosting the delegation.

The medical professionals spent two weeks in Ghana to learn first-hand the treatment and management of malaria.

She said the visitors were impressed with the community’s leadership and their concern for the people’s health and well-being as well as the Community Health Planning Services concept.

‘Your efforts made the visitors to ca
rry your good name and Ghana to their various countries,’ she said.

Dr Juliaman Jadi Ibrahim, a Lecturer of Bayen University, Kano in Nigeria, had earlier told the Ghana News Agency that the CHPS Compound concept was not part of the health care delivery system of his country.

He said he wished his country’s leaders would adopt the system to make healthcare delivery accessible and affordable to rural communities.

Dr. Alfred Kwesi Manyeh, a Lecturer at UHAS, said a team of lecturers from UHAS and other sister health universities took the team through malaria treatment, management and prevention.

Togbe Dzegblade IV, Chief of Adaklu Kodzobi, hoped the cordial relations between the University and the community would be maintained.

He suggested to the management to give a quota of its admission to qualified students from communities around the University.

Source: Ghana News Agency

A total of 1,062 people in rural communities and deprived Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the Upper West Region have received education and sensitisation on Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) and the Hepatitis B and C diseases.

The beneficiaries comprised 613 rural community members and 449 SHS students to enable them to have a clearer understanding of those diseases, their mode of transmission and their impact on their lives if they contracted them.

The initiative, dubbed: ‘Know Your Status’, was an education and prevention awareness campaign by Sahara Advocates of Change (SAC) on HIV, HBV and HCV through puppet and radio programming.

It was with support from Gilead Science aimed at creating awareness, screening, and testing of people where there were no health facilities.

A statement signed by Madam Lina Beneb, the Programme Manager for SAC, copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, said:

‘336 of the number went for voluntary screening, testing and counselling and 10 came out positive with HBV and we
re referred to their nearest hospitals for further diagnosis and treatment.’

The beneficiary communities include Naakateng and Ba-o-jon in the Wa West District where the nearest health centre of Gurungu was about 8km.

Others were Gbankonyiri and Baabayiri in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issah District where the nearest health facility was in Konzokala, which is about six kilometres away from the communities.

The rest were: Dodoma, Donye, Dompie, Dugbalipare, Tankara, and Tambigye No. 1 and 2, all in the Wa West District with the nearest health facility being about 10 kilometres, located in Tokali.

The SHSs that also benefited from the project were Takpo and Sombo Senior High Schools, Tibani Vocational Institute in the Nadowli-Kaleo District and Loggu Senior High School in the Wa East District.

The community members, students and the school authorities expressed gratitude to SAC and its partners for the intervention.

They asked for more interventions as many members and students did not benefit from the screening
and testing, the statement said.

It referred to Mr Salifu Majeed, a resident of Nakaateng, as saying that many of his neighbours were not able to join the programme due to farm activities and other issues.

Mr Thomas Dagbol, from the Dodoma community, commended SAC and said they had never experienced that kind of advocacy, screening and testing for free in their community.

Mr Ernest Tengenaang, the Principal of Tibani Vocational Institute, expressed gratitude to SAC for including the school in the programme.

‘He said he hopes to see more programmes like this in the future as it is really a great help to the students who are afraid and shy to go to health facilities for these testing’.

Source: Ghana News Agency