Let us find common solution to health problems in West Africa - Kufuor

Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday called on the West African College of Physicians (WACP) to evolve common solutions to health problems common to the whole Sub-Region.

He said the inhabitants of Sub-Region until the advent of HIV/AIDS were afflicted mostly with communicable diseases and illnesses caused by unsanitary conditions and lack of potable water.

However, President Kufuor said other diseases more commonly associated with the advanced countries had literally crept into the Sub-Region and stress-related diseases and other illness generally associated with lifestyles were becoming prevalent in the Sub-Region.

President Kufuor made the call when addressing the opening session of the four-day 27th Annual General and Scientific Meeting of the West African College of Physicians (WACP) in Accra.

The WACP formally called the College was inaugurated in Lagos on October 23, 1976 and the theme for this year's meeting is: "Recent Epidemics of Non-Communicable Health Problems in the West African Sub-Region".

The meeting is the forum to review its activities and exchange innovative concepts in health service and research findings with a specific focus each year.

President Kufuor said the situation had posed a dilemma on health policies for governments on how to formulate health guidelines to cover the diseases of the advanced countries within the essentially poor economies had posed an acute challenge to governments within the Sub-Region.

He said there could not be a better-equipped group to offer the leadership to tackle the problem than the College and appealed to them to embark on widespread education on what were involved in these lifestyle diseases.

"The realisation that these diseases are now prevalent amongst us mean that there is an even greater need for public health education in our educational systems as a whole and our medical schools in particular. I entreat you to seek solutions that would be applicable throughout the Sub-Region", he said. President Kufuor asked health personnel to target women in their health educational campaigns to achieve the desired impact.

He said targeting women would be beneficial because women could influence food habits that were engendering obesity and exercise the greatest influence in lifestyles that affect the health of the people.

President Kufuor said the health profession was such an exclusive and sometimes even intimidating group that unless they took steps to reach out forcefully to society and government to educate and advise in plain, everyday and down to earth language, their message would not make the necessary impact.

"It is urgent that a partnership is developed among all stakeholders, the College and other medical personnel, governments, donors and the public to find the strategies to confront the problem", he said.

Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health said the meeting provided an opportunity for the physicians to intensify dialogue between the various countries on health delivery towards a common direction for solutions to health problems within the Sub-Region.

He stressed the need for an opportunity for Africa to have well-equipped health training and resource management institutions for effective health care delivery.

Dr Afriyie said to overcome the constraints to effective and efficient health care delivery, regional resources on health should be harmonised into a common fund.

He said the life pattern within the Sub-Region had changed and statistics indicated that there were more elderly people than children and called for a review on attention to the elderly in society than children on whom health personnel had concentrated their efforts.

Dr J. K. Acquaye, President of WACP, said under the College's five-year strategic plan, efforts would be made to ensure more Teaching Hospitals were accredited to the College for the effective supervision of their performance. He said a new relationship was developing between the regional groupings in the field of health care delivery - the West African College of Surgeons, West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacy and the West African College of Nursing were finding ways strengthening their cooperation.

Dr Acquaye said funding of training institutions within the health sector in various countries must be improved to ensure adequate physicians were trained for the Sub-Region.

He said 115 new members and 29 fellows were admitted into their fold this year.