At the 2022 annual health review meeting in the Upper East Regional Health Directorate, the Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, enumerated some achievements and successes of the service in the year under review.
One of the achievements of the RDHS, Dr. Dzotsi said, was the reduction in maternal mortality. He said maternal deaths in the region had reduced from 43 in 2021 to 27 in 2022, and stillbirths had decreased from 14 percent in 2021 to 11 percent in 2022, which was below the national target of 11.5 percent in 2022.
He said the region’s record in malaria has a five-case fatality rate of 0.03 percent, which he described as the first three best in the country.
Dr. Dzotsi said there was also a decline in new HIV/AIDS infections from 1,214 in 2021 to 921 in 2022 and reminded members of the public that the disease was still in the system, adding that the tuberculosis rate increased from 47 percent in 2021 to 50.2 percent in 2022.
He noted that despite the region’s achievements, there was a shortage of health staff in the region, saying the region had only four specialists at the regional hospital and some cases that needed specialist care had to be referred to Tamale or Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals in the Northern and Ashanti Regions, respectively.
Speaking with Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, Friday, March 31, 2023, Dr. Josephat Nyuzaghl, the Deputy Director of Health Services explained the strategy that worked for the Ghana Health Service.
“Basically, I think it is because we have very robust maternal mortality management at the regional level. What happens is that, each time a pregnant woman dies, the facility is supposed to conduct an audit. What they do is review the care and management of the client and try to compare with the standards of care and to identify where gaps may have occurred in delivering the care.”
“Based on those issues, an action plan is drawn and recommendations are made. At the regional level we have tried to make sure that all facilities embark on these audits and follow through on these recommendations and I think that has helped,” he said.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, admonished officials of the Ghana Health Service to generate accurate data to improve health service delivery in the region.
He said accurate data was key in the health care system to achieve accurate results for policy decisions.
Mr. Yakubu spoke at the 2022 Annual Performance Review Meeting of the Ghana Health Service in Bolgatanga on the theme: “The Role of Quality Data in Improving Service Delivery Outcomes.”
He bemoaned the unprofessional conduct and negligence on the part of some health workers, which sometimes led to the loss of lives: “Staff who engage in unprofessional conduct, when identified, should be severely sanctioned to serve as deterrents to others.”
He encouraged health professionals in the region to attach a high level of professionalism to their work and endeavour to create a good rapport between themselves and patients.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
