The Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) recorded 46 maternal deaths last year as against 44 in 2018, representing an increase of 24 per cent in the death rate.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the TTH, Dr Kareem Mumuni, disclosed this at the 2019 Annual Performance Review of the Hospital in Tamale here on Wednesday.
Dr Mumuni expressed worry about high numbers of infant and neonatal deaths in the hospital, and promised to initiate measures to reverse the situation, urging all stakeholders in the health sector to assist in addressing the issues.
The acting CEO said it was unacceptable for TTH to be recording high infant and neonatal deaths, adding that “infant and neonatal deaths have been on the increase over the past three years; there is the need for multi-stakeholder engagement to address this worrying trend.”
He said the frequent breakdowns were not only affecting quality health delivery but also put huge financial burden to the hospital, indicating that “the hospital’s biomedical engineers together with the equipment suppliers are working around the clock to ensure that these essential service were fully restored as soon as practicable.”
Dr Mumuni hinted that the hospital’s management had started discussions with engineers of Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to address power outages, reiterating his resolve to motivate staff and management to improve quality healthcare delivery in the hospital.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Saeed called on the authorities of TTH to intensify effort to prevent COVID-19 disease.
He stated that the region shared boundaries with Togo, Burkina Faso and other countries which have recorded COVID-19 cases, hence the urgent need to put in appropriate measures to prevent outbreak in the country.
Mr Saeed assured the authorities of the hospital of his outfit’s readiness to support them to deliver on their mandate.
FROM YAKUBU ABDUL-MAJEED, TAMALE
