SADA holds health forum

Management of rejuvenated Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) has organized a two day event in Tamale dubbed, “SADA Zone High Level Health Forum.”

It was on the theme, “Bridging the equity gap in health delivery in the SADA zone.”

Both local and international stakeholders in the health sector met and brainstormed on some selected thematic areas.

The forum served as means of finding workable solutions to constraints inhibiting quality health care delivery in the Northern Savannah Ecological zone.

Deputy Northern Regional Minister, A.B.A Fuseini at the opening ceremony commended SADA management for the foresight.

He tasked the participants to at the end submit solutions to problems associated with health delivery in the SADA zone.

“It is the collective responsibility of all of us to ensure that we would build an equitable and efficient health system for our country and I trust this health forum will generate practical ways for addressing the health challenges facing the sector especially in the SADA zone.”

He admitted that good health is the wealth of citizens of a nation for which government would commit enough resources into the health sector.

“The ruling NDC party believes in the principle of health for all and that is why the government continues to invest heavily in the provision of health infrastructure as seen in the Tamale Teaching Hospital, the ongoing major rehabilitation and upgrading works at the Ridge Hospital in Accra and the many CHPS compounds dotted throughout the country.”

“The government with other development partners continue to tackle the constraints in the human resource gaps in the health sector by expanding access to facilities for training Midwives, Doctors and other specialists to improve the human resources situation in the health sector to cater for the health needs of the people,” A.B.A Fuseini added.

The Sagnarigu constituency legislator expected that the broad base consultations would concentrate on how to reduce the current high malnutrition under five mortality rates in the SADA zone to the barest minimum, how to improve health planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation at the community and district levels and how to better coordinate health interventions within the SADA zone to ensure equity and to achieve the expected outcomes.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Hon. Joseph Yileh Chere attributed the inequity of health delivery in the SADA zone to inadequate funds.

He called for enough preventive care sensitization to bridge the gap.

Hon. Yileh Chere gave the assurance that the committee would adopt and push for the speedy implementation of recommendations sourced from the forum.

Chief Executive Officer of SADA, Charles Abugre explained that the forum formed part of tailored programmes meant to reinvigorate SADA.

Charles Abugri emphasized that health was paramount in SADA’s development agenda, hence the forum.

“We cannot develop and transform the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone without a healthy people and a healthy environment.”

He revealed that the forum was jointly organized by SADA and the Ghana Health Service with impressive support from the Ministry of Health and development partners.

He presented a paper which concentrated on the SADA mandate and health sector coordination, planning, monitoring and evaluation.

The specific objective of the forum was to review existing bottom-up planning mechanisms for the health sector with a view to developing a consolidated health sector for the SADA zone by 2016.

It was anticipated that at the end of the round table forum, there would be an agreed institutional framework for health sector planning, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and learning for the SADA zone.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana