Three boards in health sector inaugurated

Three boards in health sector inaugurated
February 09, 2010
Accra, Feb. 9, GNA - Boards and Governing Councils of institutions under the Health Ministry have been asked to collaborate with the Ministry to achieve the vision that it has set to attain for the sector.

Inaugurating the boards of the Komofo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), The Pharmacy Council and the Nurses and Midwives Council in Accra on Tuesday, Deputy Health Minister, Dr Oakley Quaye-Kuma, tasked members to ensure that the sector's vision of having a healthy population for national development was achieved especially in its five key priorities.

The five priority areas are improving the interventions towards the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) particularly MDG4 and MDG 5, under no circumstances should any patient especially pregnant women lie on the floor of any facility and harmonizing the scattered malaria intervention to ensure effective malaria control.

The others are the adequate supply of water in all health facilities and addressing the equity gaps in human resource for health development.

The Deputy Minister urged the 14-member KATH Board chaired by Dr. Kwaku Agyeman Mensah to go by its motto as the Centre of Excellence to guarantee that quality health care was not compromised. They should also keep in mind their clients' satisfaction in their line of duty.

The 21-member Nurses and Midwives Council, which is yet to elect a chairperson, was tasked to make certain that standards of practice of nursing and midwifery were maintained at their optimum to meet widely accepted standards particularly in the area of licensing of students.

The Ministry, Dr Quaye-Kuma said, would be grateful if the Council would have a look at the issues that led to the cancellation of the October 2009 licensure examamination and put in all efforts to avoid the reoccurrence of such a situation.

The Dr David Annim-Addo-led nine-member board of the Pharmacy Council was asked to address the influx of counterfeit and substandard medicines into the country and the indiscriminate peddling of all manner of medicines into the country.

It should also collaborate more with sister agencies such as the Food and Drugs Board (FDB), the police and other regulatory bodies to ensure that the practice was stopped.

The members of the Boards and Governing Councils were grateful for the honour done them and pledged to work to achieve the health sector's vision to provide quality health care for its clients.

GNA