Managers of public health resolved to scale up epidemiology impact

Elmina, June 18, GNA - Public Health managers of the Ghana Health Services (GHS) on Friday resolved to scale up public health intervention to levels at which epidemiological impact is made to meet natural and global targets.

They also resolved to renew their commitment to halt the transmission of guinea worm by the end of 2005. These were contained in a nine-point communiqu=E9 issued at the end of the seventh public health retreat at Elmina.

It was attended by national and regional officers of the GHS and representatives of donor agencies.

It was to assess the performance of the national health system and to find ways of ending the major challenge facing the public health division.

The managers pledged to commit themselves to reverse the upward trend of HIV/AIDS epidemic and as well as intensifying facilitative supervisory visits to the district level, which is the focus of health intervention.

The managers promised to share best practices and innovation as a way of improving services in poor performing districts and also renewed the call on the government to extend free delivery services to the remaining six regions of the country as a way of reducing maternal mortality.

They urged district assemblies to judiciously use the "poverty reduction fund" to improve the health status of people in their districts and called on managers of health services at all level of institute annual free and mandatory medical examination of health workers as a way of ensuring a healthy workforce.

They further called on the government to expand the facilities at training institutions in order to increase the intake and output of the institutions.