Health Care Improves in Central Region

from All Africa

Public Agenda (Accra)

By Kwaku Baah-Acheamfour
Cape Coast

The Central Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service says it recorded a remarkable improvement in healthcare delivery in the region last year, including a zero cholera-case.

This resulted from a campaign launched against cholera outbreak to overturn previous trends, especially traumatic situations recorded over the past three years.

Dr. Aaron Offei, Regional Director, Ghana Health Service (GHS) disclosed this at an annual performance review exercise which brought together stakeholders to discuss pertinent health delivery issues. It was under the theme "Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, a Challenge for All."

Dr. Offei indicated that it wasn't only cholera that they were determined to eradicate from the region but any disease that they saw as a threat to the sound health of the people. To this end, they were able to curb the spread of guinea worm infections which some years back posed health problems to the people of the region.

"Guinea Worm transmission has been interrupted in the region as no case has been reported since 2004" he said.

Though the directorate encountered various challenges in the past year, Dr. Offei catalogued more successes. He said on the issue of disease prevention and control, Central Region was among the high ranking performing regions and rated as the most improved region in disease surveillance.

He explained that for instance the cure rate for Tuberculosis for 2007 was 71.6%, which was a 10% increase over 2006 figures. In addition, the defaulter rate also improved from a figure of 19.6% to less than 5%.

Dr. Offei stressed that the region has also not relented in fighting the HIV/AIDS. For instance, Ante-Retroviral treatments are being provided for People Living with AIDS (PLWAs).

He explained that with the exception of the Abura-Dunkwa Government Hospital, Twifo Praso Government Hospital and Apam Catholic Hospital, all the other hospitals have started providing Ante-Retroviral treatment for PLWAs.

"We are hoping that the remaining hospitals will be taken on board this year so that all the hospitals in the region including the private hospitals will be able to provide these services" he added.

Also, there has been an increase in the sites for the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) from 14 to 23 to help curb the incidence of mothers transmitting the virus to their unborn babies among others.