Minister advocates multi-sectorial approach to health challenges

Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Mensah, Minister of Health, addressed the Annual General Meeting of District Directors of Health in Bolgatanga, with a call for multi-sectorial approach to facilitate effective and improved health delivery in the country.

The Conference which was on the theme: “Sustaining the Gains of MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) 4,5 and 6 : The Role of the community-based health planning services (CHPS) Compounds discussed how to sustain the gains of the MDGs after the September 2015 deadline.

Dr Agyeman-Mensah said the implementation of the CHPS programme which involved providing health services to the doorsteps of communities should have made chiefs and opinion leaders to be part of the planning and the process of delivering health.

“We must recognise that each of these stakeholders have a major contribution in the partnership based on their strengths. It is left to you as managers to identify these and channel them appropriately to achieve results,” he said.

He asked the health personnel to work assiduously to help tackle maternal mortality which, he noted is high and unacceptable.

Dr Agyeman-Mensah said plans are ongoing to decentralise the human resource base process so that District Directors could be given the opportunity to recruit staff to fill vacant positions.

Dr Kokou Awoonor-Williams, Upper East Regional Director of Health, said the region has the best maternal health and supervised delivery indicators in Ghana.

He attributed the success story to many health initiatives which, he noted, were largely community based, citing the Zorko maternal and newborn care initiative, the pregnant school initiative for mothers among others.

The Director- General of Ghana Health Service, Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyre lauded the achievement of the region and asked others to emulate their initiatives.