Malaria Cases Drop In Volta

Dr Teye Nuertey (left) receiving the items from Systems For Health’s Head of Party, Dr Damien Dedzo

The Volta Region has recorded a significant drop in malaria cases in the out-patient departments (OPDs) of the various hospitals and health facilities in the region.

The downward trend which started in the last two years has continued, with malaria cases dropping from 457,521 in 2015 to 363,739 in 2016 and the figure currently stands at 242,156.

The Volta Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Joseph Teye Nuertey, disclosed this during the half-year review of the health directorate held in Ho, the regional capital.

He attributed the drop in the cases to several interventions that have been put in place to control the vector and an improvement in case management.

Dr Teye Nuertey added that there has also been an increase in demarcated CHPS compounds in the region from 651 to 684, while home visits by community health nurses and community health officers have also increased from 46,917 in 2016 to 92,819 in 2017.

He revealed that teenage pregnancy cases have also dropped in the region, while maternal mortality has also marginally dropped from 176.2 per 100,000 live births in 2016 to 160.9 this year.

Dr Teye Nuertey was hopeful the initial signs of improvement in service delivery in the region will be sustained till the end of the year.

He appealed to managers at all levels to live up to their responsibilities of doing regular and quality supervision of their subordinates to ensure efficiency in the health sector.

Meanwhile, the Systems For Health Project of USAID has donated some assorted equipment to the Volta Regional Health Directorate to improve on health service delivery in the region.

The items which include family planning and reproductive health equipment, angle point lamps for service delivery and instruments for training health practitioners, among others, cost about GH¢80,000. Four other regions, Central, Western, Northern and Greater Accra, where Systems For Health currently operates, will be benefiting from similar donations in the coming weeks.

Dr Nuertey expressed gratitude to Systems For Health for their help, calling on other organisations to emulate their gesture. He assured that the equipment would be put to good use to improve quality health delivery in the region, particularly in the area of family and reproductive health, maternal health and training.

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From Gibril Abdul Razak, Ho