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Fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis
remain a challenge
Wa, Jan. 29, Ghanadot/GNA – Dr. Alexis Nang-beifubah, Upper
West Regional Director of Health Services, has said the
fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis remained a challenge
for health personnel in the area.
He said knowledge about HIV/AIDS in the region was about 100
per cent but expressed the regret that that had not
translated to behavioural change.
Dr. Nang-beifubah said this at a three-day regional health
sector performance review conference held in Wa on
Wednesday.
He said out of 20,545 people tested for HIV/AIDS last year
in the region, 852 persons were found to be positive.
At the Wa Regional Hospital out of the 13,314 pregnant women
who were tested for the virus, 205 of them tested positive
and out of the 1,918 blood donors screened, 279 were
positive.
He mentioned poor funding from the district assemblies and
the perennial problem of inadequate number of critical staff
as well as the aging of its staff as some of the challenges
facing the health sector in the region.
“At some point, there were only four doctors working in the
whole region and the absence of a regional reference
hospital has also become a national imperative”, Dr. Nang-beifubah
said.
He said infrastructure development in four of the newly
created districts had been poor and many of the existing
health facilities needed rehabilitation.
Dr. Nang-beifubah said means of transport, especially
motorcycles, had broken down in addition to obsolete
equipment.
“These challenges notwithstanding moderate achievement had
been recorded with the help of UNICEF, district assemblies
and other development partners.”
He said 25 CHPS compounds had been completed during the year
and waiting to be inaugurated bringing the number of CHPS
compounds in the region from 58 to 83.
Dr. Nang-beifubah said referral cases in the region had
improved with Ghana Ambulance Service and the Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) providing ambulances
to all the districts.
GNA
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