"Your security will not be compromised," - Mabengba assures health workers

Tamale, Feb. 19, GNA - Mr. Moses Bukari Mabengba, the Northern Regional Minister designate, has assured health personnel who accept postings to the region that their security would not be compromised. He said some doctors decline postings to the region simply on account of perceived insecurity in the area but added with some humour that other categories of workers who had refused similar postings to the region but latter came turned to refuse transfer outside the region. Mr. Mabengba was addressing the 2009 Annual Performance Review Meeting of the Ghana health Service (GHS) of the northern region in Tamale on Thursday.

The theme for this year's review meeting was: "Putting customer care at the centre of health service delivery". Mr. Mabengba said nurses and midwives were not accepting postings to the region and noted that at present the nurse/patient ration in the region was about 1:1,360.

He appealed to the GHS to help address the problem of human resource challenges in the region to enable the government achieve its agenda for a better health delivery.

Mr. Mabengba said the Regional Coordinating Council had tasked all District Assemblies in the region to ensure that accommodation was readily provided for health personnel posted to the region. Dr. Akwasi Twumasi, the Regional Director of Health Services, said malaria continued to be the main cause of OPD attendance to health facilities and also the major cause of deaths recording over 708,342 or 52 percent.

Maternal deaths are also a problem in the region as 96 mothers died out of child birth in 2009.

Speaking on the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme (GWEP), Dr. Twumasi said the region recorded 237 cases as against 479 cases the previous year. He said the month of November last year was significant for the eradication of the disease since not even a single case was recorded. Dr Twumasi said for the month of January this year only two cases were recorded as against 67 during the same period in 2008. Dr. Twumasi said new polyclinics being built at Janga, Karaga and Chereponi would be completed in June as well as the new Zabzugu Hospital. He complained about the human resource situation in the region said the situation had worsened with the deaths, transfers and refusal of transferred staff to the region.

Dr Twumasi said out of eight medical officers transferred to the region during the year only one reported adding that at the beginning of the year none of 15 personnel were transferred to the reported. 19 Feb 10