Human rights abuses in hospitals declining - CHRAJ

Human rights abuses in health facilities in the Volta region are on the decline, Mr Baah Forson Agyapong, Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) said on Wednesday.

He said ward observation reports and monitoring indicated that complaints from patients on human rights abuses reduced considerably, at least in the past twelve months.

Mr Agyapong was speaking with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) ahead of the presentation of certificates to Dilpoma 14 student nurses of Ho Nurses Training College, after a week-20 non-scoring course on Human Rights.

He said patient-nurse relation in the Region has improved with nurses having better understanding of human rights concept and its bearing on the nursing profession.

Mr Agyapong said checks also indicated that nurses were promoting and protecting rights and freedoms of patients, especially the vulnerable with positive impact on health service delivery.

He said though human rights abuses were not totally out of the health care delivery system, the situation was fast improving and called for support from all stakeholders.

Mr Bennet Ahiagbe, a Senior Investigator at CHRAJ, Ho, and an Instructor for the course said the programme was gradually imbuing student nurses with the “culture of human rights.”

CHRAJ in 2004 institutionalized a human rights training course for student nurses to help them manage clients better, especially on their rights.