The East Mamprusi District Health Management Team, DHMT has held its annual performance review meeting for 2007 at Gambaga in the Northern Region.

Participants were drawn from all the sub-districts with Mr Mahama Alex Ewura, Human Resource Manager and Mr Abu Accrachie, Regional Disease Control Officer joining from the Northern Regional Health Directorate as resource persons.

In his presentation, the District Disease Control officer, Joseph Owusu said the review meeting would enable the DHMT to assess its performance during the year under review and strategise for the ensuing year.

Mr Owusu told participants that the disease control unit was the technical wing of the DHMT and as it mandate, undertakes surveillance, expanded immunisation, EPI and also coordinates disease eradication activities.

He said his unit advises the District Director of Health Services, DDHS on disease trends and effective control measures. The unit has during the year under review, undertaken a vitamin A supplementation exercise that captured 145 children between six and 11 months old and 7000 children from 12 to 59 months old.

The officer noted that patients from other regions patronised the services of the Nalerigu Baptist Medical Centre. He said the high OPD attendance could therefore not be attributed to the East Mamprusi district alone. On the way forward, Mr Owusu said the unit would supervise 80 percent of outreach sessions, lobby for more field technicians to man the sub-districts and also build the capacity of zonal coordinators to assist in disease surveillance and control throughout the district.

The DDHS of East Mamprusi, Thomas Sennor mentioned difficulty in interrupting cerebro spinal meningitis, CSM outbreak, high EPI drop out rate, inadequate funding from the sector ministry and apathy on the part of staff as some of the major problems during the year under review.

The director said strategies including close monitoring and reporting on CSM, reorientation of staff and selective immunisation were taken to address these problems.

Mr Sennor disclosed that the DHMT made remarkable achievements during 2007. For instance, out of a total of 78 CSM cases reported only eight deaths occurred. Family planning acceptors increased from a previous 7,186 to 7,483 whilst skilled deliveries rose from 1,614 to 1,681. Also, outreach points in the district shot up from 81 to 90. Meanwhile, malaria OPD attendance dropped considerably.

Touching on the staff situation, he said 25 nurses were at post, seven on study leave and only one vacated post.

He noted that hypertension, gynaecological diseases, anaemia and malaria were among the top ten diseases last year.

The DDHS advised the public against the consumption of concoctions prevailing on the market in recent times. He also urged his staff to cultivate the habit of maintenance to prolong the life span of clinical equipment.

A Principal Nursing Officer at the Baptist Medical Centre BMC at Nalerigu, Mr Stephen Yiddi who gave a presentation for the Nalerigu sub-district said the BMC established in 1958, provides curative, preventive as well as promotive and spiritual care for its patients.

Mr Yiddi said during the year under review, the BMC had specialist visits from the USA that helped in the areas of gynaecology, urology, dentistry and general surgery. Also, a team from the Korle Bu teaching hospital performed surgeries for 28 women with obstetric fistulas, a repair programme ran by the hospital for the past 20 years.

His presentation revealed that the centre recorded an OPD attendance of 65,277 for 2007 and 7,659 admissions with the average length of stay at four days. Major surgeries for the year were 1,257 whilst caesarian sessions and deliveries stood at 276 and 920 respectively.

The BMC which is a Christian health organisation operated jointly by the International Missions Board of the USA and the Ghana Baptist Convention had two expatriate doctors, as of 2007, five medical assistants, eight midwives and 25 clinical nurses. The total staff strength was 247.

The hospital has a bed capacity of 123, a TB village with 70 beds and also runs a standard public health department that oversees the Nalerigu sub-district.

Source: ISD ( PETER ATOGEWE WEDAM)

Posted: 27/06/08

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