Volta Regional Health Director cries for more medical doctors

Dr Joseph Nuertey, Volta Regional Director of Health on Friday asked Chiefs in the Region to assist in getting medical doctors who hail from the area to come home to work.

Dr Nuertey was briefing the First General meeting of the Region House of Chiefs on the state of health service delivery in the Region.

He said although the Region accounted for 70 per cent of medical doctors in the country with majority of them coming from Keta the area lack the right complement of the personnel.

Dr Nuertey appealed to the chiefs to lead the campaign to get their subjects to come back home to serve.

He observed that economic considerations have been the major reasons why medical doctors decline posting to the Region or facilitate the brain drain.

He said a number of measures are being taken to address the problem and asked the chiefs to support the authorities to push them through.

Dr Nuertey said the Region has a total of 63 medical doctors compared with 103 at the Tamale Hospital alone.

A total number of medical staff in the Region stood at 4,903 as at 2012.

There are 202 midwives, 83 dentists and medical doctors, 83 pharmacists, 56 laboratory workers and 718 auxiliary staff.

Dr Nuertey said a two-year post basic midwifery training school has been established in Kete-Krachi.

Another facility would be set up at Saint Anthony’s Hospital in Dzodze to augment the number of midwives being trained at Hohoe.

Dr Nuertey suggested the need for the building of a new regional hospital for the Region because the current facility would be absorbed by the University of Health and Allied Sciences.

He called on the House of Chiefs to facilitate the acquisition of land and throw its weight towards the realization of the project.

Dr Nuertey said the region’s HIV prevalence rate stands at 1.8.

He said by November 2012 a total of 88 pregnancy related deaths occurred in the Region.

He asked the chiefs to educate their subjects to report persistent coughs to the hospital because of the emergence of a resistant strain of tuberculosis.

He said the Region has not recorded new guinea-worm cases since 2009.

Togbe Afede XIV, President of the House observed that people of the area were to be blamed for painting the Region negatively.

He said they justify their unwillingness to put their expertise at the disposal of the people back at home.

Togbe Afede urged chiefs in the Region to take up the challenge to make their people feel proud about where they come from.