The Savannah Region’s Ghana Health Service has bemoaned the unwillingness of medical officers to accept postings to the infant region.
He claimed that this was impeding the service’s efforts to ensure a responsive and resilient healthcare delivery system that meets the health needs of the people in the region.
Dr. Chrysantus Kubio, the Savannah Regional Director of Health Service, revealed at an annual Regional Health Sector Performance Review Conference held at the Unity Centre in Damongo that 85 percent of medical doctors posted to the region in the year under review failed to report.
“During the fiscal year under review, the region received 1,133 new employees, 225 of whom failed to report, representing a 20 percent posting rejection rate. Medical Officers were rejected at an 85 percent rate when it came to specific professions. This necessitates stakeholder deliberation at the various Municipal and District Assembly levels in order to devise means of attracting these critical personnel to accept postings in our region “He stated.
He stated that the region continues to rely on its mother region, the Northern Regional Health Directorate Medical Stores, for assistance, but that the Savannah Regional Coordinating Council has allocated 10-acre land in the long term for the construction of a Regional Medical Store, mechanical workshop, and equipment workshop.
According to him, the region received two state-of-the-art District Hospitals and a Polyclinic in Buipe, Sawla, and Bamboi, respectively, vaccinated 23 percent of the regional targeted population against COVID-19, and successfully controlled the yellow fever outbreak in the region by vaccinating 241,777 people, or 100 percent of the at-risk population targeted for vaccination during the outbreak.
He thanked their partners and the Member of Parliament for the Damongo Constituency for their years of assistance and used the occasion to encourage all well-meaning individuals and organizations to come to the region’s aid in terms of logistical support.
The Savannah Regional Minister, Saaed Muhazu Jibreal, praised all health workers and development partners for their significant contributions and hard work, which resulted in modest gains in health indicators in the fiscal year under review.
He stated that there can be no meaningful socioeconomic development in any country with a high disease burden, emphasizing that “health is wealth.”
The minister decried the perceived negative attitude of some staff toward clients and work, citing the ongoing industrial action by Medical Officers at West Gonja Hospital as an example.
According to him, the government was attempting to address the transportation needs of health facilities in the new region through the Ministry of Health.
In a brief message, the Ghana Health Service Council urged all health workers to rededicate themselves to the service’s mandate and work diligently toward the achievement of the service’s goals and objectives.
The conference brought together key players in the health sector and their partners, including all health directors in the region’s various municipalities and districts, to assess the region’s overall health performance, discuss priorities, and commit to working together to further improve the service’s objectives under the theme “ensuring comprehensive service delivery in the midst of a pandemic.”
