Northern Regions Move To Attract Health Professionals

The Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions have resolved that all district assemblies in the three regions should acquire land banks to set up health villages for health professionals who accept postings to their districts. District assemblies, in collaboration with the various District Directorate of Health Services are also to assist health Professionals, who accept postings to their areas with loans to undertake housing schemes.

These were contained in a five-point communiqu? signed by Mr Sahanun Mogtari, Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu, Upper East Regional Minister and Mr Charles Bintim, Deputy Northern Regional Minister at the end of the health forum.

The communiqu? among other things called on various Regional Co-ordinating Councils, District Assemblies and the Ghana Health Service to institute periodic interaction with health professionals and to determine levels of subsidies to be paid to some health personnel for accommodation, water, electricity, telephone and transport loans.

The communiqu? expressed concern that only 76 doctors were serving the three regions, while ideally over 300 doctors were needed.

It called on the Ministry of Health to re-introduce the training of Enrolled Nurses for the Northern Sector as a stop-gap measure to address the acute shortage of nurses in the three regions.

On infrastructure, the communiqu? called on the government to immediately rehabilitate the Tamale Regional Hospital and equip it to serve as the only teaching hospital in the northern sector.

The communiqu? appealed to various district assemblies to immediately compile community registers to provide basic data for the implementation of the National Insurance Scheme.

The health forum, which was organized by the Upper West Regional Co-ordinating Council in collaborations with Ghana Health Service, was necessitated by the high mortality rate in the three regions due mainly to lack of qualified health professionals at the health facilities.

It was also to collaborate to find lasting solutions to the socio-cultural, political and economic factors militating against the three regions.