There is an upsurge in infant and maternal mortality at the Yendi Municipal hospital due to inadequate Midwives.
As a major health referral facility serving the eastern corridor in the Northern Region, the Yendi Municipal hospital also lacks paramedical staff.
[contextly_sidebar id=”EU8kM5R8aJwZiVegUqvcRatvyZ7Grzkl”]This worrying development has compelled the Yendi Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to call back retired Midwives to assist in providing health care services to residents there.
According to the Yendi Municipal Health Director, Denisia Agong, eight maternal deaths were recorded in 2014.
She was speaking on the occasion of the year under review (2014) meeting held in Yendi.
She decried, “We don’t have midwives and to reduce maternal and child mortality the presence of midwives is very key: the sub districts we have six, only two have got midwives.”
“The Yendi hospital has six midwives and I learnt three will be going on retirement: they have even called Retirees to come and help so there is the need for us to get more midwives, professional nurses, Doctors and community health nurses,” she stated.
She also complained about inadequate staff accommodation for health personnel posted to the Yendi Municipality.
“We have inadequate staff accommodation especially at the periphery so when you post nurses to them and they cannot get accommodation for them they have to go back to wherever they posted them from.”
Denisia Agong said delay in reimbursing NHIA claims was affecting health service delivery.
“We still have problems with funding to run health activities: there is delay in reimbursement of health insurance claims and as at now as we speak we have been reimbursed up to July 2014.”
On the Cerebrospinal Meningitis disease, she revealed that 87 suspected were picked in 2014 with 42 confirmed and five deaths recorded.
“The municipality experienced an outbreak of CSM from February through to August 2014: a total of 87 suspected cases were picked, 42 confirmed cases and five deaths recorded.”
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana