Upper East Health Service Makes Giant Strides

The Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. John Koku Awoonor-Williams says the health sector will have to increase its commitment to providing effective community-based health interventions in order to meet the MDGs 4, 5, and 6 by 2015. Dr. Awoonor-Williams was addressing health workers from the region as well as development partners at a three-day 2011 regional health sector performance review meeting in Bolgatanga. The meeting was under the theme: �Repositioning CHPS and Community-Based Health Interventions to Achieve MDGS 4, 5 And 6.� The sole objective of the meeting was to take stock of performance in 2011 and set targets for 2012. Reading the 2011 report, the regional health director said the region�s supervised deliveries records stand at 67.5 %, an increase of 52.6% from 2009. Currently, it is the country�s best supervised deliveries record over the past two years. There has also been a corresponding positive downward trend in institutional maternal mortality with a ratio of 140 per 100,000 live births as against 153 per 100,000 live births in 2009. In the area of disease control, malaria case management improved tremendously showing a consistent drop in under five malaria cases. Also the proportion of malaria cases in total OPD cases dropped from 56.6% to 47.7% in 2011. Since 2007 the Upper East region has not recorded any Guinea Worm cases and the rate of successfully cured TB cases, increased from 77.4 % in 2008 to 89.4 % in 2012. Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Owen Woyongo, who sat in the review meeting, assured the directorate of government�s continuous support in the area of infrastructure improvement. He said this year the region will benefit from the construction of the Garu-Tempane District Hospital and five polyclinics. Mr. Woyongo appealed to chiefs and landowners to provide the necessary land for these projects and similar health facilities to help make health service more accessible at all levels. He also tasked all municipal and district chief executives to work more closely with their respective Members of Parliament and community leaders to support the Ghana Health Service in its work.