Hon. Minister for Health tours health facilities in the Brong Ahafo
The Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu has toured some health facilities in the Brong Ahafo region to acquaint himself of the work in that part of the country. The five-day tour took the minister and his entourage to several towns and villages including Atebubu Amantin, Atebubu, Prang, Yeji, Nkoransa, Sunyani, Tanoso, Yamfo, Duayaw Nkwanta and Bechem. Others areas visited were Wenchi, Badu, Nsawkaw, Seikwa, Sampa, Suma Ahenkro, Kintampo, Anyima, Techiman and Tuobodom. The minister used the visit to pay courtesy calls on the Regional Minister, some Municipal, District Chief Executives and some chiefs.
In his meeting with staff, management of the health facilities as well as chiefs within the region, the Minister assured them of government’s readiness to improve upon health service delivery even further in the region to meet the Universal Health Coverage (UHC); a vision of World Health Organization for nations of the world.
The Minister who hails from the region was full of joy when the Regional Director of Ghana Health Service, Dr. Kofi Issa reported that, the region came top as the number one region in terms of health service delivery in the whole of Ghana during the 2017 health sector review.
The tour enabled the minister to interact with management and staff of the regional, municipal, district, health centers, health posts as well as CHPS during the period of stay in the region. The tour provided the minister and officers from the Ministry of Health who accompanied him have first-hand information about the operations, activities, achievements and challenges facing them. He also used the opportunity the visit offered to advice and address any managerial and or administrative challenges at the places he visited, urging staff to close their rank, cooperate and collaborate to ensure peaceful co-existence to enable them achieve the purpose for which they were employed.
On challenges being faced by the facilities, most of which cut across almost all of them included infrastructure, tools, equipment, inadequate critical staff, vehicles, accommodation, incubators, maternal and neonatal mortality issues, casual workers not mechanized for several years, and in some areas influence, on especially some schools that the traditional authorities weld. The minister assured that, his ministry and for that matter, the government of Nana ADDO Dankwa Akufo Addo of NPP would see to it that, challenges facing them are addressed as and when funds become available going forward.
The Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu assured of government’s intention to ensuring early completion of Nsawkaw new hospital and other uncompleted ones, while working around the clock to give the region a teaching hospital. He thanked the mission hospitals for maintaining such a high standard at their facilities and urged others to emulate them.
The minister was accompanied on the tour by the Regional Director of Ghana Health Service, other regional deputy directors as well as officers from the Ministry of health, head office, Accra including, Dr. Emmanuel Ankrah Odame (Ag. Director-PPME), Robert Cudjoe, Head, Public Relations Unit, Dela Kemevor, Deputy Director, Kwame Sarfo, an Architech with Capital Investment Unit, Barnabas Yeboah, National CHPS Coordinator, Linda Nanbigne, Personal Assistant to the minister and Daniel Gyan, a Special Assistant to the minister.
The staff, students, management, chiefs and the people of Brong Ahafo who welcomed their own son warmly to the region could not hide their joy of the visit and requested the minister to make such tour as frequent as possible as it has the tendency to motivate and bring life to the health service delivery in the region.
By Robert Cudjoe
(Head, Public Relations Unit)
Ministry of Health