Through increased public education and surveillance, the Central Region recorded zero epidemic outbreak in 2017, Dr Alexis Nang-Beifubah, the Regional Director of the Ghana Health Services (GHS) has said.
He indicated that the Region remained resolute and committed to working assiduously with all relevant bodies and interest groups to sustain the success chalked while finding innovative ways to address other emerging challenges.
Dr Nang-Beifubah, was speaking at the 2017 annual Central Regional Health Sector performance review meeting held at Cape Coast on Tuesday.
The two-day meeting afforded the Directorate the opportunity to take stock of it stewardship and identified factors that had accounted for the incredible achievements, map out practical solutions to their performance gaps and innovative strategies to scale-up the health gains chalked.
Dr Nang-Beifubah, stated that the Region recorded zero report on dreaded epidemic outbreak such as cholera, Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM), yellow fever and measles.
The Regional Director of Health expressed the readiness of the Region to battle any epidemic outbreak and assured that his outfit was watching to control any outbreak of Lassa fever which had been reported in Nigeria.
He assured the public that its surveillance system had been triggered and all health facilities and staff were on the alert to help prevent the disease.
On non-communicable diseases, he said the Region was confronted with a huge challenge of an upward trend in morbidity and mortality rates due to hypertension and diabetes, and described the absence of national health insurance cover for routine screening services as "worrying".
He attributed the upsurge of such diseases to lifestyle changes but assured that it could be prevented through increased physical activities, healthy eating habits alongside regular health checks for early diagnosis and management.
Additionally, he mentioned inadequate human resource personnel, lack of financial clearance of staff, high staff attrition due to retirements and deaths as weighing challenges against the provision of quality health care services.
According to him, about 116 health personnel retired in 2017 compared to 94 and 92 in 2015 and 2016 respectively, representing a 23 per cent increase in attrition rate.
He, however, applauded Mr Kwamena Duncan, the Central Regional Minister, and all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) for showing greater commitment to drastically reducing insanitary conditions through public education on personal hygiene practices.
For his part, Mr Duncan, said he would ensure that the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) together with all MMDAs prioritised sanitation to maintain the Regions impeccable health performance.
He said the RCC had set-up a sanitation committee to monitor and evaluate activities of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to know their status on sanitation.
Mr Duncan cautioned that the Sanitation Committee would not spare any district, which would perform poorly in sanitation as those districts would be named and shamed to awaken others from their slumber.
GNA
