Sixteen babies born premature have died within the past eight months at the Asonomaso Government Hospital in the Kwabre East District of Ashanti Region due to the absence of incubator at the facility.

The worrying situation, according to the medical officers, is a hindrance to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on health which seeks among others to reduce child mortality.

Child mortality is a major headache to health officials at the facility. Since the beginning of the year, the hospital has recorded sixteen deaths of premature babies, who could not access incubators.

Premature babies have to be transferred all the way to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital to be incubated.

The Medical Superintendent of the facility, Dr Imrana Mahama, says accessing at least one incubator will help save babies.

“Being a district hospital, we need equipped laboratory. Currently, we have to send patients from here to KATH for lab test which is not encouraging because of the long distance. Also, the absence of ambulance and incubators have led to several death among premature babies”

The Asonomaso Government Hospital serves as the district hospital facility in Kwabre East and also as the main referral centre for all health facilities within the district and beyond.

The increasing number of patients seeking medical attention on daily basis has increased from 50 to about 200.

This calls for infrastructural expansion to ease congestion at the Out-Patient Department and wards.

Currently, all adult male and female in-patients as well as children share same ward due to the limited space, a situation that exposes patients to cross-infection.

Meanwhile, the hospital is lamenting land encroachment by private developers.

Authorities have appealed to philanthropists and corporate institutions to assist them in fencing the hospital to prevent further encroachment.