WORKERS URGED TO UNDERGO REGULAR CHECK-UPS (PAGE 20)

 
Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Savelugu

THE Savelugu/Nanton District Director of Health Services, Dr Kofi Issah, has urged employers to ensure regular check-up on the health conditions of their employees to guarantee a strong workforce for increased productivity.
‘‘It is important that the health of employees are taken seriously because it is better to prevent their health from deteriorating than attending their funerals,’’ he stressed.
The director also advised Ghanaians to live healthy lifestyles by not only consuming balance diets, but also embarking on regular exercises, since ‘‘a healthy mind is found in a healthy body’.’
Dr Issah was speaking at the annual district health performance review at Savelugu.
He expressed concern about the frequent holding of workshops and seminars in various parts of the country for health practitioners.
Dr Issah said even though such training programmes were necessary to improve participants’ knowledge, their regularity and unco-ordinated nature were affecting effective health delivery at most hospitals and clinics, especially in the rural communities where there were few health personnel.
‘‘At a particular time and for almost two weeks, I did not step foot at the hospital because I had to attend a number of workshops at very short intervals,’’ Dr Issah stated.
He, therefore, called for effective collaboration and streamlining of workshops among organisers and other stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted work schedules of the participants.
On the guinea worm situation in the district, which is the highest in the country, Dr Issah said his outfit had chalked up some successes in its reduction over the past year.
He said the 666 guinea worm cases the district recorded in January, 2007 had reduced drastically to only 27 cases by January, this year.
Dr Issah attributed the downward trend of the disease in the area to the various sensitisation programmes carried out over the years.
He, however, expressed concern about a possible relapse because ‘‘at the moment the dams at Savelugu are dried up and there is also no proper source of supply water”.
Dr Issah commended the Savelugu District Assembly for supporting the expansion of the hospital.
He, however, appealed to the District Chief Executive (DCE) and the Ministry of Health to help decongest the out-patient department of the hospital and also post more staff to the facility.
The DCE, Alhaji Abubakari Atori, was appreciative of the efforts of the doctors and staff of the hospital for putting in their best in spite of the prevailing challenges.