Psychiatry cases increase in Western Region

Takoradi, Feb. 23, GNA — The Western Regional Health Director, Dr. (Mrs) Linda Vanotoo, has said 2,123 new psychiatry cases were recorded last year bringing the total number of people with psychiatry defects to 14, 162 in the Region. She mentioned some of the types of psychiatry defects recorded as alcohol psychosis, substance abuse, depression and mental retardation.

Others were epilepsy, anxiety, severe headache, convulsion, puerperal psychosis, mania, schizophrenia and semile dementia.

Speaking at the Annual Performance Review Meeting of the Western Regional Health Directorate held in Takoradi on Thursday, Dr. Vanotoo said malaria and anaemia continue to be the leading causes of deaths in health facilities in the Region.

Out of 3,209 institutional deaths recorded last year, 336 were anaemia with 268 malaria cases.

Other diseases, which resulted in deaths, include Sepsis 261, HIV/AIDS 167, pneumonia 158, hypertension 106, gastro and ententis 98, cirrhosis of liver 81, cerebro vascular accidents 78 whilst the rest of other diseases recorded 1, 415 cases.

The three-day meeting is under the theme:”Quality Data- A Key to Quality Heath Service Delivery”.

Dr. Vanotoo said malaria, diarrhea, anaemia, hypertension, hernia, abortion and pneumonia were among the leading causes of admissions in the Region. She said maternal mortality ratio in the region stood at 114 deaths per 100, 000 births and identified heamorrhage, severe anaemia, ruptured uterus, septicemia, hypertension and unsafe abortion as some of the causes of maternal mortality. Touching on some achievements chalked in the year under review, Dr. Vanotoo, stated that the directorate managed to reduce maternal deaths from 80 to 62, increased OPD attendance and implemented the long lasting insecticide mosquito net campaign.

On infrastructure development, she said the regional directorate took delivery of two lifts for the Effia Nkwanta Regional HospitaL whilst the Kosmos Energy donated a boat to Jomoro Heath Directorate to facilitate transportation on rivers to island communities.

It also rehabilitated the regional training unit, revamped the mechanical workshop and converted a warehouse to walk-in cold room to ensure efficiency in service delivery.

Dr. Vanotoo appealed for financial support from the government and other donor agencies to support the activities of districts health directorates. She mentioned other challenges confronting the directorate as weak data management system, delayed payment for commodities supplied to health facilities by the regional medicine unit, inadequate number of critical staff and the need to replace old vehicles with new ones to ensure efficiency. In a speech read on his behalf, the Western Regional Minister, Mr. Paul Evans Aidoo, commended all health workers for their invaluable contributions towards the provision of quality health care, especially the underprivileged and vulnerable in society.

He said various enactments and policies such as the National Health Insurance Act and the Patients Charter had imposed a lot of responsibilities on health care personnel to continuously review their practices and design appropriate interventions to meet the expectations of clients by way of improved service delivery.

Mr. Aidoo observed that the various uncomplimentary commentaries about the health sector in the media such as poor staff attitude, negligence and occasional shortage of certain vital drugs should be a source of concern to them and endeavour to address them.

He reiterated the government’s efforts at supporting the health sector, especially in the area of better staff remuneration, rehabilitation of existing health facilities, completion of stalled projects as well as construction of new facilities and provision of essential materials and equipment.

“The Government had commenced processes to construct a new regional hospital, one district hospital and five polyclinics in the region”, he said.