9 DOCTORS GO 'AWOL' ...After being posted to the Northern Region (1a)

Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale

IN spite of the numerous interventions to attract skilled human resource to the northern parts of the country, the Northern Region remains a ‘no-go’ area for medical doctors.
Out of the eight medical doctors posted to the region last year, only one reported for duty. Additionally, only one specialist, out of the three who were posted to the region last year following an exercise to re-post some of them from Accra and Kumasi, stayed on to work.
The situation prevails, despite numerous appeals from various quarters to health personnel to accept posting to all parts of the country to deliver health care.
The newly appointed Northern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Akwasi Twumasi, disclosed this at the opening of a performance review meeting in Tamale on the theme, “Strengthening Systems for Effective and Efficient Delivery of Health Services to Households and Communities”.
Dr Twumasi said one gynaecologist who also reported and went back to his former station was yet to resume duty, while the third never returned.
He explained that the theme for the review was chosen to serve as a guide in the implementation of the priorities of the overall health sector for this year.
He said the target for the year included the promotion of good nutrition among all ages, food security and food safety.
Others, according to the director, were combating diseases such as HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, guinea worm and lymphatic filariasis, which affected the poor.
He also expressed concern over the dwindling finances of the sector in the region, which had reduced drastically from GH¢4.13 million in 2005, GH¢1.55 million in 2006 to GH¢300,000 last year.
“Thankfully, DANIDA, in 2006, came to our aid with GH¢1.16 million and GH2.06 million in 2007 to support the sector’s new strategy of High Impact Rapid Delivery (HIRD) for interventions in some deprived districts,” he stated.
Dr Twumasi also lamented that there were still constraints in the movement of staff because their motorbikes and other vehicles were aged and weak, leading to frequent breakdowns.
“Among these complex problems was the floods in August 2007 which seriously affected our service delivery to the communities and also led to the increase in some diseases,” he pointed out.
The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, reiterated the need for the regional health directorate to acquire land for the construction of a Health Workers’ Village in Tamale as a permanent solution to the accommodation problems faced by some of the workers in the area.
“I am certain that the chiefs will be more than willing to release parcels of land for this worthy purpose,” he observed.
In the short term, the minister expressed the preparedness of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) to assist the health sector to secure accommodation for health professionals who would be posted to the area.
Alhaji Idris commended the health workers in the area, particularly those in deprived communities, for their modest achievements last year.
“Most notable is the drastic reduction in guinea worm cases, compared to the same period the previous year. I must, however, caution you not to be complacent but rather redouble your efforts to bring about the total eradication of this disease soon,” he said.