TIG Post

Tag: Health

  • Gender Desk Officers tasked to prioritize adolescent health education

    The percentage of teenage pregnancy cases in the Western Region reduced to 12 per cent last year as against 18 per cent in 2018.

    A 2017 research by the Maternal Health Survey revealed that the Western Region recorded the highest percentage in teenage pregnancy of 19 per cent in that year.

    The Acting Regional Director for the Gender Department, Ms. Maribel A. Okine made this known during a two-day training workshop to sensitize Gender Desk Officers in the Region on adolescent sexual and reproductive health needs.

    The workshop jointly organized by the Department of Gender and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was to among others train the Desk officers on effective communication skills on issues pertaining to adolescents.

    It was also to build the capacity of the Gender Desk Officers to enable them respond to the sexual and reproductive health and gender needs of Adolescents.

    Ms Okine noted that though the adolescent population formed about 24 percent of the total Human force of the country their health, economic, education and socio-emotional well-being were not properly integrated , particularly in development plans, thereby leaving them in a Limbo in that age bracket.

    The Acting Regional Director was happy that the Region had been able to reduce the percentage of teenage pregnancies and commended the Gender Desk officers and health professionals for their efforts.

    She asked that the same enthusiasm that was used to help reduce the teenage pregnancy cases should be applied in dealing with the issues of adolescent health needs.

    She called on the participants to take the workshop seriously and use the knowledge acquired to analyze reproductive health issues at the local level to address challenges faced by Adolescents.

    For her part, Ms Sandra Kuntu Anaman, an Adolescent Health Development (ADHD) Specialist, said young people between ages 11 and 24 were the next workforce for the country, hence their health concerns have to be taken very seriously.

    She noted that children in their developmental stages stood the risk of sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, Teenage pregnancy and therefore called on parents to be more responsible during that period, to avert some of the social disasters such children often encountered in their development.

    Ms Anaman said the rate of Adolescent growth in Ghana clearly indicated that the future of the nation and region would be driven by these young people.

    “That is why we need to make a compelling case to policy makers and stakeholders that interventions should be devised to shape the adolescents into responsible adults,” she added.

    She mentioned forming school and community clubs, developing adolescent mobile applications, creating adolescent health corners and using “edu-tainment’ as some of the means to assist the adolescents with information that would empower them.

    The participants were taken through “Making a Compelling Case for Adolescents” using the National Adolescent Policy and section of Adolescent Sexual & Reproductive Health Toolkit for Humanitarian Settings by UNFPA, “Meeting Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs”, “Gender Concepts, Gender Mainstreaming; linking gender and health” and “Roles of GDOs: responding to SRHR and Gender needs of Adolescents”.

    Source: GNA

  • Health Director expresses concern about increasing neonatal deaths

    Dr Osei Kuffuor Afreh, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, has expressed concern about the increasing rate of neonatal mortality in the region saying it needs urgent attention.

    He said the region recorded 6.1 per 1000 live births in 2018, and this increased to 8.6 per 1000 live births in 2019 adding that the prevailing statistics could be attributed to the lack of a paediatrician in the region.

    Dr Afreh said the main causes of deaths were birth asphyxia, prematurity and sepsis.

    He said he had directed all facilities in the region to establish resuscitation centres at all maternity units to help address the menace.

    Dr Afreh raised these concerns at the 2019 Annual Performance Review Conference of the Ghana Health Service held under the theme: “Improving maternal and new-born care through quality health care delivery”.

    He said the region has partnered with UNICEF to among others build the capacity of doctors and midwives in Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) and Essential Care for Every Child.

    On maternal mortality, Dr Afreh said the region, with support from partners, has reduced the ratio from 100.8 per 100,000 live births in 2018 to 74 per 100,000 live births in 2019 through capacity building for health staff and improvement in antenatal service delivery.

    He said the region currently has 336 functional Community-based health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds out of which only 39 per cent has basic equipment to deliver quality health care.

    Dr Afreh said out of the 336 functional CHPS, 56 had no access to potable water and 26 lacked electricity while several of them had no toilet facilities for patients visiting those facilities, which was impeding quality healthcare service delivery.

    He said the region was faced with the challenge of attracting and retaining critical medical personnel, especially Doctors and Specialists and said “only five out of the 17 medical officers posted to the region reported and assumed duty while six medical officers had also left to pursue further studies”.

    Mr Amidu Chinnia, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, commended the health workers for their commitment to fighting the challenge of maternal and neonatal mortality in the region.

    “I would like to extend greater gratitude to the Health Extension Officers and health personnel working in rural and deprived communities for their patience and dedication to the profession in spite of the challenges that they face in the delivery of their service”, he said.

    Mr Chinnia said the delivery of the 11 ambulances to the region by the government was timely as it would help improve health service delivery to the people.

    Stakeholders in the health sector including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UNICEF and the Ghana Ambulance Service among others took turns to speak at the conference.

     

    Source: GNA

  • Pastors warned to refer patients to health facilities for treatment

    Madam Elizabeth Agyemang, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, has called on faith healers to desist from keeping people living with chronic medical conditions in their prayer camps but quickly refer them to health facilities for professional medical treatment.

    She said denying such people medical attention under the pretext of healing them spiritually was not only cruel but a violation of their human rights.

    Speaking at a breast cancer forum at the Kumasi Technical University, the Minister advised the perpetrators to concentrate on preaching the word of God as they allow medical professionals to do their work.

    The forum, held under the theme: “The Role of Religion in Breast Cancer Control in Africa”, was to sensitize participants on the prevention, causes and treatment of the dreaded and fatal disease.

    She said it was unacceptable for any faith healer or prophet to attempt to heal a cancer patient who required the urgent services of a specialist due to the dangerous and debilitating nature of the disease.

    Madam Agyemang entreated cancer patients to seek professional help even if they would attend church for prayers, adding “the church is no place for cancer treatment”.

    Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai, President of Breast Care International (BCI), said breast cancer was curable if detected early yet many people saw it as a death sentence.

    She said instead of seeking medical attention, many people resort to prayer camps and only showed up in the hospitals too late when the disease was almost at the terminal stage.

    Dr Addai implored prophets to direct patients to hospitals and back them with prayers in order to save their lives.

    She said cancer was a global disease but the rate at which people were dying in Ghana due to ignorance was alarming and urged religious leaders to lead the fight against the needless deaths.

     

    Source: GNA