Monday, 13th June, 2022

Page 8
Management of
the Sandema
Hospital in the
Builsa North
Municipality of
the Upper East Region has reiterated
appeals to Government,
Non-Governmental Organizations,
philanthropists and individuals
to support the facility
with power plant for health care
delivery.
The over 30years obsolete
power plant which served the
entire facility broke down
despite all attempts by Managements
of the Hospital and the
Regional Health Directorate to
repair it.
The Hospital, which is a
referral centre for the Municipality
and its environs, and also
Health
serves some parts of the North
East and Upper West Regions,
is often plunged into darkness
anytime there is power outage in
the Municipality.
Mr Prosper Asandem, the Administrator
of the Hospital who
reiterated Management’s appeal
for a new power plant at a meeting
of Heads of Departments and
staff of the Municipal Assembly
after several appeals, said “The
generators have broken down
beyond repairs.”
The meeting, graced by Mr
Stephen Yakubu, the Regional
Minister and some key Regional
Heads of Departments, and officials
of the Regional Coordinating
Council, afforded staff in the
Municipality the opportunity
to interact with the Minister on
DAILY ANALYST Monday, 13th June, 2022
Sandema Hospital
appeal for power plant
how to improve service delivery
in their respective Departments.
Mr Asandem said the facility
had a “small generator” which
was not able to supply alternative
power to the entire Hospital
in critical times, and disclosed
that the usage of the generator
was based on the Unit with critically
ill patients when there was
power outage.
“If an entirely new power
plant could be procured for the
facility, it will be helpful,” the
Hospital’s Administrator said.
Prior to the meeting, the
Paramount Chief of the Builsa
Traditional Area, Nab Azagsuk
Azantilow, also appealed to the
Minister when he called on him
at his palace to support the Hospital
with a power plant.
He earlier corroborated the
challenges the lack of alternative
power supply to the Hospital
had on health care delivery as
indicated by the Administrator,
adding that the lives of patients,
especially pregnant women were
in danger at the facility.
“You can imagine if a pregnant
woman is delivering or
there is an ongoing operation
and power goes off,” the Paramount
Chief said.
Commenting on the issue,
Dr Emmanuel Kofi Dzotsi, the
Regional Director of the Ghana
Health Service (GHS) said “We
have sent technicians on several
occasions to work on it, but now
it is beyond us. And it needs to be
changed as early as possible.”
When the Ghana News
Agency (GNA) visited the facility
to ascertain the condition of the
power plant, it observed that the
plant in question was obsolete
and some portions of it had
rusted.
Some patient relatives who
expressed their frustrations to
the GNA about the erratic power
supply in the Municipality and
the lack of power plant to serve
the Hospital, said Nurses had to
use their mobile phone lights to
attend to patients when there
was power outage.
“My brother is on admission
here, and we experienced some
power outages, especially at
night for the past days he has
been admitted. I saw nurses
struggling with their phone
lights to render services. This
facility actually needs a power
plant,” a relative of a patient said
on condition of anonymity.
3,000 people screened
for multiple diseases
in Old Tafo
SEND GHANA commends GHS for proactively
cautioning Ghanaian citizenry on Monkeypox
SEND GHANA has
commended the Ghana
Health Service for
taking proactive steps
to increase surveillance
and cautioning the Ghanaian
citizenry to be on a high alert
even before the monkeypox
disease spreads across the
country.
They however urged
government to commit more
resources to finance epidemic
preparedness in the country.
A release signed by the
Chief Executive Officer of
SEND GHANA, Siapha Kamara,
indicated that, it’s extremely
necessary to reinforce their call
for the government of Ghana
and health policymakers to
increase funding for epidemic
preparedness.
The release also said, “While
SEND GHANA applauds the GHS,
we deem it extremely necessary
to reinforce our call for the
government of Ghana and health
policymakers to increase funding
for epidemic preparedness.
In emergencies such as this,
reliable and adequate funding is
essential to, for example, increase
human resource capacity, create
and sustain public awareness,
strengthen surveillance and
response systems to help prevent
disease outbreaks, and ensure
rapid response at local level, etc.”
According to SEND GHANA,
future epidemics are inevitable
and it is necessary to make a
long-term investment in health
security systems as well as
preparedness to deal effectively
with public health emergencies.
Below is the original press
release:
SEND GHANA has taken
notice of reports of recently
confirmed cases of the
Monkeypox virus in Ghana.
According to the Director-General
of the Ghana Health Service
(GHS), five cases of the infectious
disease have been recorded in
Ghana’s Eastern, western, and
Greater Accra regions.
It is distressing that this is
occurring at a time there is a
surge in COVID-19 cases and the
Influenza A H3N2, with the first
case of the latter recorded in
January 2022. This development
suggests that Ghana is currently
dealing with three health
emergencies in the face of the
prevailing economic challenges.
SEND GHANA wishes to
commend the GHS for taking
proactive steps to increase
surveillance and cautioning
the Ghanaian citizenry to be
on a high alert even before
the disease spreads across the
country. Noting that some
control measures are already in
place to minimize the spread
of the disease after it has been
confirmed is a step in the right
direction.
While SEND GHANA applauds
the GHS, we deem it extremely
necessary to reinforce our call
for the government of Ghana
and health policymakers to
increase funding for epidemic
preparedness. In emergencies
such as this, reliable and
adequate funding is essential
to, for example, increase human
resource capacity, create and
sustain public awareness,
strengthen surveillance and
response systems to help prevent
disease outbreaks, and ensure
rapid response at local level, etc.
We maintain that future
epidemics are inevitable.
Therefore, it is necessary to
make a long-term investment
in health security systems and
preparedness to deal effectively
with public health emergencies.
Responding too late to disease
outbreaks costs lives and affects
economic growth, national
security, and the well-being of
people. In developing economies
such as Ghana, the poorest and
most vulnerable people are the
most affected by health threats.
We strongly urge the
government to speed up efforts
to set up the Public Health
Emergency Fund and/or realign
the existing COVID-19 Levy to
include epidemic prevention
and response at all levels. A
Public Health Emergency Fund
would be critical in helping
increase resilience in Ghana’s
health system to prepare and
respond with urgency to existing
public health risks and future
epidemics.
About three thousand
people drawn from
Old Tafo and other
communities within
the Greater Kumasi
area have undergone a health
screening exercise to enhance
their wellbeing.
The exercise, organised by
the Vodafone Ghana Foundation
under its ‘health-fest’ initiative,
saw the beneficiaries screened
for hypertension, diabetes,
hepatitis B, malaria and HIV/
AIDS, at the Old Tafo Government
Hospital.
It also created awareness and
tests for knowing one’s sickle
cell status, with the beneficiaries
of the exercise being registered
onto the National Health
Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Dr Mrs Stella Agyenim-
Boateng, Board Director for the
Foundation, in an interview with
the media, called for intensified
education on sickle cell in order
to whip up knowledge about the
disease in the Ghanaian society.
The Foundation believed
that a healthy people was a
prerequisite for the progress of
any nation, she observed.
It was against this backdrop
that Vodafone has set aside June,
this year, to promote healthy
lifestyles, and also work with
stakeholders to reduce maternal
mortality by offering free
ultrasound screening.
The Foundation, as part of
the programme, donated some
sanitary items and a television
set to the Old Tafo Government
Hospital.
Ms Geta Striggner-Quartey,
Director of Legal and External
Affairs, Vodafone, said over the
past six years, the Foundation
had given a special focus to the
Ashanti Region by undertaking
a number of socially impactful
initiatives.
In pursuance of its
objectives, the company has
themed this month (June), “BOA
ASANTEMAN”, to underscore the
need to address key sustainable
development issues in the
region, including education,
health and environmental
sustainability.
According to the Vodafone
Director of Legal and External
Affairs, the company had
stepped up its outreach
programme for the benefit
of the people, saying the
authorities would not relent in
abiding by its corporate social
responsibilities.