Abura Dunkwa District Hospital cries for doctors

Lack of medical doctors is hampering quality health care delivery in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) District of the Central Region.

The more than 128,000 residents of the Abura-Dunkwa District hospital’s catchment area are being served by only two medical doctors.

This leaves the doctor-patient ratio of one doctor to 64, 000 people woefully below the internationally accepted ratio of one is to 6,000 people.

Dr. Michael Danso, the Medical Superintendent at the hospital who made this known said the situation was making it extremely difficult to handle the huge number of patients who visit the facility.

Speaking at a social auditing program organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), he expressed worry that many residents were seeking medical attention outside the district as a result.

According to Dr. Danso, the hospital needed not less than five doctors but could boast of only two, one of whom would soon leave for further studies.

He pointed out that healthcare delivery was a highly skilled technical area that needed to be handled by qualified professionals and that in situations where they were non-existence or inadequate, quality could be compromised.

“As it stands, quality cannot be guaranteed”, Dr Danso lamented and urged stakeholders to do all they could to help change the narrative.

Mrs. Gifty Ankrah, AAK District Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) said the situation was largely due to the fact that doctors refused postings to the Region, adding that of the thirteen doctors posted to the Region in 2018, only one reported with many preferring Accra, Kumasi and Tamale.

Mrs. Ellen Osei, AAK district Director of the NCCE entreated the citizens to keep public officers and community leaders on their toes by demanding accountability while ensuring that projects being executed in their communities were completed.

She noted that under social auditing, citizens had the mandate to assess the performance of public policies, programs and projects in order to influence the outcome of the process and its impact against the corresponding budgetary allocation.

The 1992 constitution spelt out the citizen’s civic duty to demand credible performance from duty bearers either elected or appointed and encouraged them to take active part in holding leaders accountable.

Mrs. Osei said if citizens continually assert their rights and demand economic efficiency and effectiveness from their duty bearers, they would become more sensitive, responsive and performance oriented and focus on delivery.

Mr. David Asiedu, AAK District Director of education said despite efforts to increase female enrolment especially at the secondary school level it continued to dwindle in the district.

He therefore encouraged parents to play their respective roles to compliment efforts of the Government to get all children educated.

Officials from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Social Welfare, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), NADMO, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Department of Agriculture took turns to educate citizens in their activities.