Birim North Assembly to sponsor training of nurses

New Abirem (E/R), Feb. 7, GNA - The Birim North District Assembly is to sponsor the training of nurses who would work in the area to ensure the delivery of quality health care.

Nana Acquah Frimpong, District Chief Executive (DCE), said this at the closing of the end of year performance review meeting of the Ghana Health Service at New Abirem in the Eastern Region.

He said the Assembly had decided to pay 24 million cedis for the training of eight Health Aides who passed out recently and was partly supporting a female medical student from the District, who would serve in the area on the completion of her course.

The DCE said it was also going to provide compounds for the Community-based Health and Planning Services (CHPS) at Nyamebekyere and Prasokuma.

The Birim North, Nana Acquah Frimpong, said was among the 40 most deprived districts in the country, yet its District Health Management Team (DHMT) had emerged the best managed in the Eastern Region on several occasions and commended the District Director of Health Services and his staff for their commitment and dedication.

He promised that the Assembly would reward staff that excelled in their performance and appealed to people not to politicise the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) but to patronise it for quality and affordable health care delivery.

The District Director of Health Services, Mr Tei Djangmah, said significant progress had been made in the area of staff development through training and urged the Health Aides to work hard to justify the investment made in them and the request for the sponsorship for the training of more.

Mr Djangmah said no guinea worm and cholera cases were recorded in the District and attributed them to the effective surveillance system in place with the involvement of volunteers.

He said outpatient attendance at the New Abirem Health Centre rose from 3,059 in 2002 to 7,812 in 2003 and by the end of 2005 it had shot up to 21,012.

Mr Djangmah called for the upgrading of the New Abirem Health Centre to a District Hospital to provide referral services for community health facilities in the area.

He commended the Chief of Abirem and the community for the communal labour they provided during the construction of the facility. Mr Isaac Kyere, Regional Health Insurance Manager, commended health personnel in the area and urged the staff to continue with their hard work to sustain their achievement as the best managed DHMT in the region.

The Abiremhene, Nana Akwasi Amo Kyeretwie, commended the government for starting to implement the upgrading of the Health Centre to a District Hospital and appealed for the early execution of the second phase of the project.

He noted that with gold mining expected to start in the area soon there would be pressure on health facilities and urged the GHS to post a medical officer to the District.

The Chief also appealed to the government, non-governmental organisations and other institutions for the supply of ambulances for the Health Centre and the other facilities to take care of emergency cases to referral points. 07 Feb. 06