Malaria still number one OPD cases in Tema- Health Directorate

Tema, Feb 12, GNA - The Tema Health Directorate, recorded a total of 108,417 top 10 Out-Patient Department (OPD) cases in the Tema Metropolis last year. The top 10 OPD cases included Malaria, Hypertension, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), Skin Diseases and Ulcers, as well as pregnancy-related sicknesses.

Others were Diabetes Mellitus, Rheumatism and Joints, Acute Eye Infections, Intestinal Worms and Anaemia.

Mr Harvey Akafu, Tema Metropolitan Health Information Officer, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday, said even though there was a general decrease in the OPD cases recorded in the various health facilities in the Metropolis, Malaria still remained the number one reason for visiting the facilities. Mr Akafu stated that despite the fact that Malaria topped the OPD cases, there was a decrease in the number of reported Malaria cases, as a total of 63,806 cases were recorded in 2009, as compared to the 70,147 cases in 2008.

The Health Information Officer again said there was a slight decrease in Hypertension, which had

consistently been the second on the list for some years now. The records, he said, showed that last year, a total of 27,493 Hypertension cases were reported at the

health facilities, while 29,443 were recorded in 2008. Mr Akafu entreated residents in the Metropolis to lead healthy lifestyles, as Hypertension was a life-style

disease. He advised that apart from not consuming too much fatty foods, the public should undertake regular

exercises, in order to be in good health. Mr Akafu encouraged residents to participate in the weekly health walk exercise, organized by the

Directorate on every Friday, from its starting point at the Tema Polyclinic. Public Health facilities in the Metropolis tested 262 people for Tuberculosis (TB), of which 143 tested

positive. The Health Information Officer indicated that the health facilities counselled a total of 314 TB patients to

under-go HIV test in 2009, and said 260 agreed to go for the test, and 83 of those tested were HIV positive. He advised people suffering from severe cough to visit health centres and under-go TB tests for free

treatment. Mr Akafu revealed that a total of 125,780 patients, who visited the public health facilities in 2009, were

National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card bearing members, while 175,474 were non-insured. A total number of 1,602 insured patients and 8,820 non-insured patients also visited the private health

facilities in the Metropolis last year, he added.