SPEED UP TEPA HOSPITAL PROJECT (PAGE 21)

THE Medical Superintendent of the Tepa Government Hospital, Dr Akuamoah Boateng, has appealed to the government to speed up the establishment of the Ahafoman District Hospital at Tepa.
He noted that the establishment of the hospital would go a long way to bring sanity into health delivery in the area.
Speaking at the district's health performance review meeting at Tepa, Dr Boateng said Tepa Hospital lacked adequate facilities to meet the prevailing demands, and the establishment of the Ahafoman Hospital with modern facilities as announced by the government would save the situation.
He said since the inception of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the number of admissions and outpatient had increased drastically.
This was because patients regristered with the scheme did not encounter any financial problems when they reported at the hospital for treatment.
Dr Boateng urged Buruli ulcer patients to register with the NHIS to enable them benefit from the package.
The District Director of Health Services, Mrs Elizabeth Adentwi, said reported cases of HIV/AIDS in the district increased from 69 in 2007 to 140 in 2008.
She explained that more people were reporting the disease because of the introduction of a programme dubbed, "Know your status" by the district health directorate.
Mrs Adentwi also indicated that malaria cases increased from 17,141 in 2007 to 22,354 in 2008 while that for Buruli ulcer jumped from 35 cases in 2007 to 75 in 2008.
The Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services in charge of administration, Mr Kofi Poku, commended the health staff of the district for their good work in the past year and urged them to improve on it.
He announced that the regional health directorate would, this year, receive a number of motorbikes for distribution to health institutions in the district.
He appealled to chiefs and community leaders to support health staff in their respective areas with accommodation to entice them to remain in their areas.
Their District Coordinating Director, Mr Annin Yeboah, gave the assurance that the district assembly would continue to support the health sector to enable it deliver better services to the people.
He challenged the health staff in the various communities to rededicate themselves to their work.