West African Health Community Meets In Accra

Accra, Aug 25, - Agencies in the West African Health Community (WAHC) were today asked to review their certification procedures to make them more responsive to the needs of member countries. Mr Samuel Nuamah-Donkor, deputy Minister of Health, said the low output of specialists by the college ''is a cause for concern in the wake of the acute need for specialists in the health institutions in the sub-region''. Mr Nuamah-Donkor who was opening the 38th ordinary meeting of the executive board of the WAHC in Accra, said though the specialised agencies of the colleges are proving to be of great value through their training programmes ''we, however, expect much more from you''. The deputy Minister further urged them to ensure that their programmes are designed to provide health care suitable to local health needs because they have an enormous task of improving the quality of health care for the people. ''Your programmes must also reflect on the status of the sub- region's health care delivery system in the tertiary, secondary and primary levels''. This calls for complete commitment and mobilisation of available material, financial and human resources, he said, and appealed to all member countries to meet their financial commitments. ''I urge the board to start thinking seriously about what support they can render towards the rehabilitation of health facilities in Liberia and Sierra Leone, devastated by conflicts over the years''. On Ghana's health insurance scheme, Mr Nuamah-Donkor said a company will be established in the next few weeks to run the scheme which is due to start in four districts in the Eastern Region on pilot basis. Dr Suleiman Sani, Chairman of the Executive Board, said the board will continue to find solutions to the problems of health care delivery in the sub-region to fulfil the goals and objectives of the organisation. The community, he said, has been going through financial problems and urged member countries to pay their outstanding contributions, while ''we continue to implement demand-driven programmes that will meet your needs''. Mrs Gladys Amoah-Boateng, Director of Administration, Ministry of Health, asked the college to produce the manpower to man the health institutions in the sub-region. ''In this regard, member states should embark on structural and educational adjustment based on high standards in medicine, medical research, pharmacy and nursing with emphasis on quality rather than quantity of health care''.