No cash for ‘weighing cards’ - Appiah Denkyira

The Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Dr Ebenezer Appiah Denkyira is blaming the shortage of weighing cards at the pediatric units of most health facilities in the country to financial constraints.

Almost all hospitals, clinic and CHPS compounds nationwide have been operating without weighing cards for the little over a year now compelling managers to rely on improvised means to keep records of lactating mothers and their children.

The ‘Weighing Cards’ serve as a guide to caregivers on breast­feeding, immunisation, home- care management, nutrition and family planning, and, therefore, remains an effective tool to pro­mote child health.

But speaking on the Ultimate Breakfast Show hosted by Lantam Papanko, the Director General blamed the situation to the infamous Medical Stores fire at Tema coupled with the non availability of money to produce new ones.

“It is all about money and there is no budgetary allocation to produce weighing cards. We have improvised ways of complimenting the shortage until such a time we can raise money for that purpose”, he said.

An amount of GH¢8m he added, is required to cater for both registers and weighing cards to save the situation indicating that talks are currently underway with the appropriate stakeholders.

He indicated that plans are in the offing to make mothers pay for the cards to ensure that they are readily available for use each time patients visit the facility in the future.