Government to establish health facilities in every district

Accra, March 2, GNA - The government is to establish well equipped health facilities in every district, Dr George Sipa Yankey, Minister of Health, said in Accra on Monday. He said these facilities would ensure a high degree of equity in the provision of quality healthcare services throughout the country as well as solving health related issues in the rural communities.

Dr. Yankey said this at a six-day workshop organized by the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the World Health Organization, International Aid and American College of Clinical Engineering. The programme, which has brought together health managers and administrators nationwide, seeks to enhance the quality of healthcare delivery through the development of systems that would ensure the deployment and management of medical devices in Ghana in conformity with international standards. It is also aimed at equipping participants with skills for planning and managing healthcare technological equipment and other health service resources. He said the country's quest to ensure quality-driven and result oriented healthcare delivery could only be realized if resources and equipment were effectively managed.

Dr. Yankey said lack of sustainable, reliable and affordable technical support for healthcare equipment in the country could disrupt healthcare delivery and worsen the plight of patients who patronised health facilities. He noted that despite the considerable investment made in the purchase of new equipment patients who needed precise diagnosis using specific technology were sometimes denied due to the breakdown of equipment as well as their unavailability. "There are many examples of technology failure in the health sector that are due to lack of equipment maintenance and repair, which obstruct effective provision of healthcare," he said.

Dr. Yankey said government was ready to support and collaborate with the Ghana Health Service to develop a framework which healthcare technologies could be procured appropriately to raise the quality of healthcare.

Dr. Elias Sory, Director of Ghana Health Service, called on participants to cultivate the habit of regularly maintaining health equipment rather than repairing them. Dr. Daniel Kertesz, Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), said an effective healthcare system was one of the six building blocks outlined by WHO and said the nation could only attain this goal by ensuring equitable access to essential medical products and technologies.