Category: Medical

Wa,– The Upper West Regional office of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is targeting to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by end of December 2021.

Currently, active membership of the health insurance scheme stands at 682,622 members representing 77 per cent of the total population in the region.

Mr Samuel Lobber, the Regional Manager of the NHIA who gave the target during a press briefing in Wa on Thursday stressed the commitment and determination of both staff and management to hit the minimum 80 per cent entry requirement for the UHC by the end of the year.

He noted that as a region, they had done well so far from January to July 2021, as they were currently at 95 per cent of their annual target, adding that this was impressive because, at the end of March 2021, they were at 62 percent of the target.

Mr Lobber attributed the feat to the implementation of the strategies they took during their last meeting, noting that Nadowli-Kaleo District was the worse performed district during the first quarter of 2021 but had been able to achieve 105.64 per cent of the target due to the strategies taken at the last meeting.

He said Wa West District performed impressively well topping the district performance chart with 140.22 per cent even though it was the only district in the region without an official vehicle.

The Regional Manager of the NHIA noted, however, that the 87.65 percent performance recorded by Wa Municipal office was something to worry about as it would contribute to pulling them down from their target if nothing was done to increase the performance.

Mr Lobber noted that the 64.71 percent recorded by Nandom Municipal office was understandable because much of their mobile renewals still went into Lawra Municipal office adding that even with that the performance could still challenge many of the districts across the country.

With the coverage of the population per district, he said Jirapa Municipality was at 58 percent, Lawra Municipality 112 per cent, Nadowli-Kaleo District 79 percent, Nandom Municipality 54 percent, Sissala East Municipality 73 percent, Sissala West District 106 per cent, Wa East District 64 per cent, Wa Municipality 93 percent, and Wa West District 71 per cent of their population.

“Colleagues, if together we roll out similar strategies that worked for us in the second quarter, we will certainly reach UHC even before the end of the year”, he said.

Mr Lobber noted that with the new resources released to them they should be able to achieve their target if they again came up with new strategies appropriate to the season.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra,- Ghana’s 4×100 relay team have reached the finals of this year’s Olympics after clocking an impressive 38.

08 in men’s 4×100 round two heat.

Ghana’s quartet with this time have set a new national record and will compete in the 4x100m final for the first time since Atlanta 1994.

Ghnans’s quartet which include Joseph Paul Amoah, Sean Sarfo Antwi, Benjamin Azamati and Emmanuel Yeboah finished in 5th position as they grabbed a spot in the finals as one of the fatest non-qualifying times.

Ghana would be the only African team in the finals after South Africa failed to qualify having been disqualified in their heat.

Ghana would be in lane 9 of men’s 4×100 finals on Friday (13:50 GMT) as they battle the likes of China, Ghana, Canada, Jamaica, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Jamaica and Germany.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Bolgatanga,- Dr Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has expressed concern about the number of nurses seeking postings out of the Region.

He said in spite of the shortage of health professionals in the Region, and the difficulty in attracting health professionals, especially Doctors and other paramedics to the Region, 150 nurses and midwives had put in letters requesting postings out of the Region.

This, he said was a major concern to the GHS in the Region, “There is high number of staff requesting for postings outside the Region. As we reviewed, we had 150 nurses and other health professionals requesting to leave the Region.”

Dr Dzotsi said this when he addressed the 13th Biennial General Conference of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA) in Bolgatanga on the theme; “Evidence from data to champion investments in midwifery; Monitor the investments for quality midwifery.”

He said if all the 150 nurses were allowed to leave the Region, the health facilities would be left without professionals to offer health care services, especially at the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, where nurses and midwives played critical roles.

On the shortage of Doctors as a major challenge in the Region over the years, the Director said “Last year, out of nine Doctor posted, only one reported.

“This year, we had four Doctors, but as I speak, they have not reported. Even if you call them, they don’t answer, it is a big challenge to the Region,” he said.

Dr Dzotsi said the GHS in the Region would adopt strategies to regulate postings of critical health staff out of the Region to ensure effective health care delivery across the Region.

When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) interviewed some nurses and midwives across health facilities in the Region on why they would request to leave the area, most of them, especially those from Southern Ghana, said there were limited opportunities for career progression in the Region.

According them GHS in the Region was unwilling to release qualified nurses and midwives for further studies, coupled with delays and in some cases denied promotions as compared to other Regions.

“Most of my colleagues in other Regions were given opportunities to go to school and pursue other programmes, but in this Region, it is difficult to get that opportunity,” a nurse at Tongo in the Talensi District said.

Another nurse in the Kassena-Nankana West District told the GNA that “Honestly, if I get the opportunity now to leave the Region, I will not even think twice about it. I have served more than the required number of years and I am qualified for postings out of here.

“Apart from that, my colleagues in other Regions on the same grade with me as Senior Staff Nurse, are now my seniors. They were given opportunities, for further studies. I have been applying every year in this Region to no avail,” the nurse added.

A midwife in the Bongo District also said “I am from this Region and would not want to leave, but delayed promotions, issues of salary arrears and study leave are some of the issues that may push me to request postings out of my Region. Apart from these, I have no problem.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

Poase-Cement (O/R),-The Kadjebi District Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has embarked on a sensitisation programme to educate the citizens of the district on the new COVID-19 Delta Variant.

Miss Emelda Nana Ama Amankwa, an Assistant Civic Education Officer of the NCCE, called on the citizenry to adhere to all the COVID-19 preventive and safety protocols to protect themselves against the pandemic.

She said the observation of the safety protocols such as hand washing under running water, wearing of face masks, social distancing, and hand sanitizing would help curb the pandemic if not eliminate it.

Miss Amankwa, who was addressing members of the Evangelical Presbyterian (E.P) Church at Poase-Cement in the Kadjebi District of the Oti Region, said COVID-19 Delta Variant is more dangerous, thus, inhabitants of the district should adhere to all the COVID-19 preventive and safety protocols.

She mentioned diarrhea, running nose, aching muscles, long-lasting headache, vomiting, sore throat, and tiredness as some of the new symptoms of the disease and advised them to report to the nearest health post for testing if experienced.

Miss Amankwa also advised them to maintain social distancing, sanitized their hands, wash their hands with soap under running water, avoid hugging, handshake, avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth as hands touched many surfaces and could pick up the virus.

Mr Richard Kwashie Segbawu, a Principal Field Officer of the NCCE, advised Ghanaians to take their destiny into their own hands by abiding by the COVID-19 safety and preventive protocols.

Mr Segbawu said whether the government provided them with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or not they needed to take their health and that of their children seriously in order not to contract the disease.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Accra, Aug.03, GNA – The Ministry of Health (MOH), on Tuesday, launched the first edition of Ghana’s Strategy for Technology Assessment (HTA) document to inform decision-making to promote an equitable, efficient, and high-quality health system.

The document was launched by Alhaji Asei Mahama Seini, the Deputy Minister of Health, at a physical ceremony in Accra, which was also witnessed virtually by about 100 participants from various health sector institutions across the country.

Mr Kwaku-Agyeman-Manu, Minister of Health, in a speech read on his behalf by his Deputy, described the HTA as a systematic and multidisciplinary process to evaluate the social, economic, organisational and ethical issues of a health intervention or health technology to inform policy decision making.

He said it was also a priority-setting tool to further advance the implementation of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in terms of deciding on who should be getting which intervention and at what cost, and the goal was to strengthen the science and practice of HTA in support of evidence-based decisions for the health sector.

The Health Minister explained that the Strategy would be executed through a five-year rolling implementation arrangement in close collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, and it was envisaged that within the period, evidence-based decisions in the health sector would lead to net gains in reimbursement, contribute to optimum prices and efficient procurement, and further help determine essential benefits under UHC among other aspects of the policy process.

“These concepts are linked to people-centred care, essential packages, resource allocation, and most importantly, cost effective delivery of quality health services,” adding that, it was important that policy decisions at all levels of the health system, were based on evidence and such could be obtained from the HTA.

Mr Agyeman-Manu stated that the National Health Insurance Scheme was a logical beneficiary of the positive impact of HTA, saying from the design and management of benefit package to the determination of the reimbursement list of medicines, as well as price setting mechanisms, the tool was seen as useful among other considerations to help assure value-for-money.

He said HTA in Ghana, would be given the needed strategic direction to ensure that the effective governance delivered on issues, including the effective selection of topics and sound technical work, capacity building for the right individuals and within institutions to conduct and implement HTA recommendations, and collaboration with other partners for effective work.

There will also be a focus on efficient and sustainable resource mobilisation for HTA, and in addition to the interventions on Valued Added Tax exemptions, the MOH had setup a National Medicines Pricing Committee, which would oversee the implementation of the new Medicines Pricing regime under the National Medicines Policy.

He said so far work in HTA had begun to demonstrate value addition in areas including assessing value in changing from amoxicillin suspension to dispersible tablets, assessment of the cost components of Ghana’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan as well as the cost effectiveness of treatment for newly diagnosed hypertension cases.

He called for the collaboration of all stakeholders in the implementation of HTA to ensure its success.

Dr Francis Kasolo, the WHO Country Representative, commended the MOH for the successful development of the Strategy.

He underscored the importance of prioritization for lower middle-income countries such as Ghana, for optimizing the deployment of limited resources, and cited the active involvement of the WHO in the development and institutionalization process of HTA in many countries including Ghana.

Dr Kasolo said the WHO intended to provide technical support in synch with the ongoing work on Essential Health Service Package led by the MOH, and reinforce its commitment advocacy towards strengthening Ghana’s health system to provide quality care to all, including the most vulnerable.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Bolgatanga, – Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboakye, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has expressed gratitude to midwives for risking their lives to ensure the continuous delivery of essential health services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said health professionals had risked their lives to ensure the continuous delivery of essential health services with some losing their lives.

The DG said despite the challenges, midwives remained brave and resolute in promoting domiciliary care, resulting in their ever-sterling achievement of recording the lowest number of maternal deaths and the highest number of deliveries in the history of the nation.

Dr Kuma-Aboakye said, “Your role became even more critical in meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and adolescents and you indeed rose to the occasion for which reason you must be celebrated.

“The Ghana Health Service thank you, the health sector is proud of you, and the nation is indebted to you. Thank you for saving lives during these troubling times,” he told members of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA) in a keynote address at their Biennial General Meeting in Bolgatanga.

The meeting had the Paramount Chief of the Chiana Traditional Area, Pe Ditundini Adiali Ayagitam III as its chair, and was on the theme: “Evidence from data to champion investments; Monitor the investment for quality midwifery.”

Dr Kuma-Aboakye disclosed that last year, the GHS commenced the implementation of the non-monetary aspects of the Deprived Area Incentive Scheme, which among other things, prescribed shorter service duration for staff serving severely and moderately deprived areas to qualify for the promotion.

He said midwives in the deprived area were eligible for approved study leave or even be reposted to endowed areas.

“The Promotion and Study Leave Guidelines for this year have incorporated these incentives, as we continue to strive to get cabinet approval for the payment of the monetary aspects of the Incentive Scheme.”

The DG said the GHS was working with the District Assemblies and other partners to ensure that the additional investments needed to provide the enabling environment for the midwife, especially in the areas of health infrastructure and equipment were met.

“Several District Assemblies have so far risen to this occasion, and I thank them and implore upon the countless others to do same,” Dr Kuma-Aboakye said.

He said due to the inadequate tools and equipment, midwives improvised to ensure effective service delivery.

“Fortunately, this appears to be a mixed blessing, as it has often led to the development of service innovations in maternal and child health. Going forward, I want to encourage midwives to document such innovations for which the service will invest in and scale-up.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

Tema, – Some Residents at Tema Central have gone through free medical screening, bringing health care to their doorstep.

Madam Comfort Dzidzeme Amese-Zoiku, the Managing Director of Elordnam Pharmacy and Mart, who organized the screening, told the Ghana News Agency that the residents were screened for blood pressure, malaria, diabetes, hepatitis B and C and other general medical conditions.

She said, “in partnership with Unichem Ghana Limited, we have decided to provide free deworming and condoms as part of a sexual awareness campaign as well as first aid assistance to the participants.”

She said they would also organize health educational talks to counsel, community members on health-related issues.

Mr Augustine Adu, from the Unichem, said the body has its threshold of weakness, adding as we eat and drink, we breathe in and out, take medicine, we don’t know what we are introducing into our system and as blood circulates through our system, if we don’t give the body good health maintenance, what it means is that, the body will end up breaking down.”

Source: Ghana News Agency

Sandema (U/E),– Management of the Sandema Hospital in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region has honoured Mr Joseph Kurubil, a retired Deputy Director of Nursing Services (DDNS) of the Hospital.

The retired DDNS was honoured for his dedication and immerse contributions to health service delivery in the Upper East Region while in active service.

In a citation of honour, Management of the Hospital said Mr Kurubil started his career as a State Registered Nurse in 1990 at the Tamale Teaching Hospital in the Northern Region.

“Since then, the three decades of your professional life has embodied a spirit of service and dedication within the Ghana Health Service, working at various health facilities within the Upper East Region to improve health outcomes,” the citation said.

Management noted that the contribution of Mr Kurubil to the Region in health service delivery begun at the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga from 1998 to 1999.

The citation indicated that the retired DDNS was admitted to the Nurse Practitioner programme at the University for Development Studies in Tamale, and graduated in 2003 as one of the pioneering cohorts.

“Your work as a Nurse Practitioner for 15 years at various health facilities within the Region has contributed in transforming health service delivery. You worked hard to raise the status of the Zuarungu Health Centre to a model Health Centre in the Region.

“At Sherigu CHPS, you worked hard to raise the status of the facility to a Health Centre, and did the same with Nyariga Clinic,” the citation by management of the Hospital said.

Mr Kurubil according to the citation returned to the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga in 2019 and was subsequently posted to the Sandema Hospital at the position of a DDNS.

Management said the kind and calm nature of Mr Kurubil coupled with his participatory style of leadership ensured that Ward Managers were part of decision making process, which created a conducive environment that supported the work of nurses until his retirement in June 2021.

Apart from the citation of honour, the retired DDNS also received a 32-inch High Definition (HD) flat-screen television from management.

Mr Kurubil thanked staff and management of the Sandema Hospital for the honour done to him, and advised staff, especially the young ones in the service to ensure that they secured places of accommodation before they retired.

He said most of the things young people invested their income into, were not necessary, insisting that having “A place to lay your head after retirement is the most important thing to do.”

Source: Ghana News Agency