Lack of accommodation for health professionals posted to the Ahafo Region is affecting healthcare delivery, Dr Samuel Kwabena Boateng-Boakye, the Ahafo Regional Director, Ghana Health Service (GHS), has disclosed.
This is because medical doctors and other healthcare workers are now finding private places to rent in Goaso, the capital of one of the six newly created regions.
Dr Boateng-Boakye said these on Thursday at the 2022 Regional Mid-Year Health Performance Review Meeting at Goaso.
Held on the theme “Sustaining quality of care systems for improved health outcomes in the midst of COVID – 19 pandemic”, the meeting was attended the development partners, government officials, the clergy, Nananom, and other stakeholders.
Dr Boateng -Boakye said the meeting was to afford stakeholders the opportunity to assess progress of the health sector towards achieving set objectives and targets, identify best practices, performance gabs and discuss plans for the years ahead.
” Ahafo was ranked among the high performing regions in the National Health Sector Holistic assessment in 2021 performance, with an overall average score of 4.1″ he stated.
The Regional Director indicated that Intermittent Preventive Therapy (IPT) coverage increased from 52 per cent to 90 per cent at the Bomaa Government hospital.
“Insecticidal Treated Net (ITN) coverage increased from 68 per cent to 100 per cent at Goaso Government hospital.”
“Tuberculosis positive case detection increased from zero to four at the Techimantia Government hospital” he added.
Dr Boateng -Boakye said there were ongoing projects namely Agenda 111 hospital projects at Kukuom, Kenyasi and Mim, infectious disease centre at Goaso, and refurbished temporal medical store at Kenyasi.
He said the RHD received support from UNICEF to refurbish a Regional walk-in cold room at Kenyasi, to enable them separate completely the region’s vaccines and other stored communities from Bono region.
Dr Boateng-Boakye enumerated some of the challenges as lack of suitable office accommodation for official work at the Directorate, inadequate vehicles and motorbikes, and few medical doctors who declined postings to the area.
He thanked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), JSI Research and Training Institute international – strengthening the care continuum, Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council for their support.
FROM EMMANUEL ADU GYAMFI, GOASO
