Wa, Sept. 1, GNA - Dr Jacob Abebrese, Medical Director of the Wa Regional Hospital, has called for the provision of adequate facilities and training of more clinical staff, to meet the growing needs brought by various interventions in the medical sector. Programmes like the newly introduced free medical care for pregnant women and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) were putting stress on hospital space and the few staff available, due to a huge surge in hospital attendance.

These must be addressed for the target groups to enjoy the full benefits of these schemes, Dr Abebrese said. He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the hospital in Wa.

The Medical Director said there were only two gynaecologists in the hospital, with one of them being a Cuban who would leave for holidays in September.

Dr Abebrese added that of the 100 nurses in the hospital, 35 of them were midwives, none of whom was below 45 years of age. "This is against the fact that in July this year alone, 162 pregnant women registered with the hospital as against 147 for the whole of last year and 183 in 2006," he stated.

"Two hundred and seven pregnant women delivered at the hospital in July this year while for the whole of 2007, there were 156 deliveries and in 2006 the number was 142. Dr Abebrese noted that but for the satellite medical facilities in the Wa Municipality; the situation would have been too grave to cope with. He said delays in the payment of claims by the NHIS Secretariat were also a hindrance to the success of these laudable interventions. 1 Sept. 08