UER Health Directorate in full control of Polio

Bolgatanga, Oct. 31, GNA – The Upper East Regional Health directorate at the weekend dispelled fears among the general public about the possible spread of Poliomyelitis (Polio) and high rates of maternal mortalities in the region.

Mr Lucio Derry, Deputy Director of health in charge of Administration at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), gave the assurance while reacting to these health concerns raised by members of the Council of State when they paid a two-day working visit to the Region.

He said the Region had taken all the precautionary measures to check and mitigate any of such cases should they recur, adding that the Region was on top of issues because of the best surveillance systems put in place to monitor health trends.

Mr Derry said through a weekly based monitoring system, routine immunizations of children and continuous education embarked upon by the Directorate, the Region achieved about 100 per cent polio immunization.

He said this was because the sector immunized children who had been brought into the Region from neighboring countries during the immunizations where it was feared there were pockets of such cases.He said this was done to avoid any occurrence of polio in the Region.

On maternal and child mortality, he said the directorate promoted domiciliary deliveries in communities where nurses either moved into communities to deliver pregnant women at home or facilitate their movement to the health facility for them to deliver.

He said ambulance services in towns and tricycle ambulance services were provided for easy access to health facilities at the communities to avoid some of the obstetric delays.

The Deputy Director said the directorate further put in place an audit system to check maternal and child mortalities and that the strategy helped in tracing causes and future handling of similar situations.

Reacting to concerns raised on chemical related deaths in the Region, Mr. Emmanuel Eledi, Regional Director of Agriculture said the occurrence was because of misuse and poor storage procedures practiced by farmers.

He said legalities in controlling the entry of some of the chemicals used by farmers was not in place to check their places of origin, adding that peddlers of such chemicals went into remote communities where most of the farmers lived and worked to sell the products.

The Council of State members expressed dissatisfaction with extension services provided to farmers in the Region and called on officials in that sector to ensure that education to farmers is intensified.

The two-day working visit attracted the full compliment of the Members of Council of State whose objective was to assess development projects in the Region to enable them to make the necessary recommendations and advice the President on the needs of the people of the area.

GNA