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HEALTH SECTOR

Human Resource Development And Basic Services

Health Anc Nutrition


Coverage of health services in the district is generally very low as available facilities are woefully inadequate. The highest level of health delivery system in the District is the Walewale Hospital. There are four (4) other Health Centres and some clinics located in the district some of which are not functional.

Health personnel in the district as at October 2000 are one (1) doctor, two (2) doctors from the Cuban Medical Brigade, 22 nurses, 17 midwives and 39 para-medical staff. In terms doctor patient ratio the district records 1:117,821 as against the national standard of 1:20,000, 1:5124 is the ratio for nurses/patient and 1:6933 for midwives.   The distribution of health facilities is presented.


:HEALTH FACILITIES IN THE DISTRICT

FACILITY

LOCATION

        REMARKS

WalewaleDistrictHospital

Walewale

Started in-patient activity in November 2000

Janga Health Centre

Janga

Operational

Kubore Health Centre

Kubore

Operational

Kpasenkpe Health Centre

Kpasenkpe

Operational

Yikpabongo Health Centre

Yikpabongo

Operational

Kparigu Clinic

Kparigu

Owned by PPAG not operational for 3 months (Oct.-Dec. 2000

Tinguri Clinic

Tinguri

Constructed by District Assembly not operational

Loagri Clinic

Loagr

Owned by FAME an NGO no activity from Aug.-Dec. 2000

Duu Clinic

Duu

Built by USAID not operational

Yagaba Clinic

Yagaba

Supported by District Assembly/MOHOperational

Nutrition Centre

Walewale

Catholic Family Health Project


In spite of the existence of the above facilities, people in the district have serious problems with access to health services.  This is due to the poor physical conditions of the roads in most parts of the district.  This phenomenon has accounted significantly for the limited health facilities in the district. 

Attendance has however, risen from 27,000 in 2000 to 39,890 in 2001. Serious cases from the health facilities are either referred to the Fumbisi Health Centre in the Builsa District, the Bolgatanga Central Hospital, or the Baptist Medical Centre at Nalerigu, all in the Upper East Region.

Distribution of Health Personnel

The district health services have staff strength of 84 and operate 11 health facilities, which are owned by the Ghana Health Service, CHAG AND NGOs. The staff capacity is shown in table 9.2 below

INSTITUTION

NO. OF

DOCTORS/CUBAN DOCTORS

NO. OF NURSES

NO. OF MIDWIVES

NO. OF PARAMEDICS

LAB. TECHS DISPENSERS

NO. OF BEDS

WALEWALE    

 HOSPITAL

         3

     10

      9

        9

1

 36

DHMT

         0

     1

      0

       13

 

  0

WALEWALE SUB-DISTRICT

         0

     5

      3

       2

 

  0

JANGA SUB-DISTRICT

         0

     2

      1

       1

 

  3

.KPASENKPESUB-DISTRICT

         0

     2

      1

       4

 

  6

KUBORI SUB-DISTRICT

         0

     0

      1

       4

 

  4

YIKPABONGUSUB-DISTRICT

         0

     2

      1

       0

 

  6

FAME-LOAGRISUB-DISTRICT

         0

     0

      1

       0

 

  3

CATHOLIC PRIMARY HEALTH

         0

     3

      0

       5

 

 

TOTAL

         3

    24

      17

      39

         1

 53


Complimenting the above are activities of 43 TBAs (Traditional Birth Attendants) and  134 Community Based Volunteers trained to provide basic health functions.   All Communities have at least one village volunteer who report unusual health events like death and diseases to the disease surveillance unit of the Ministry of Health. Traditional Birth Attendants and Guinea Worm Volunteers complement the efforts of the other health personnel. Bed capacity in the Walewale District Hospital as at year 2000 was 19 but improved to 36 in 2001

Major Diseases

The major health problems have been malaria, upper respiratory tract infections and diarrhoea. Cerebro-spinal Meningitis (CSM) is a disease that has claimed many lives within the past few years. CSM is seasonal and usually appears in an epidemic form.  Diarhoeal and malarial diseases can be curtailed through better water supply and hygienic practices. The top ten major diseases and causes of death in the district in 1999 to 2001 are indicated in the Tables 11a, 11b and 11c respectively.


Table 11a: Top Ten Major Diseases in 1999

DISEASE

NO. OF REPORTED CASES

RANK

Malaria

            13,085

1ST

U.R.T.I

              2,611

2ND

Diarhoeal

              2,421

3RD

Skin Diseases

              1,281

4TH

Pneumonia

                 724

5TH

IntestinalWorms

                 441

6TH

Ear Infections

                 439

7TH

Accident

                 370

8TH

Acute Eye Infections

                 359

9TH

Anemia

                 357

10TH


There was a slight change however in the disease situation in the year 2000 and 2001 but with malaria still dominating as depicted in the table 11b and 11c respectively.
 

Table 11b: Top Ten Major Diseases in 2000

DISEASE

NO. OF REPORTED CASES

RANK

MALARIA

                   15,156

1ST

DIARRHOEA

                     2,514

2ND

U.R.T. I.

                     1,735

3RD

SKIN DISEASE

                     1,376

4TH

ACUTE

                        982

5TH

PNEMONIA

                        762

6T

INTESTINAL

                        506

7TH

ANAEMIA

                        341

8TH

ACCIDENTS

                        323

9TH

HYPERTENSION

                        213

10TH

 

Table 11b: Top Ten Major Diseases in 2001

DISEASE

NO. OF CASES

RANK

MALARIA

                  16,558

1ST

DIARRHOEA

                    3,469

2ND

U.R.T. I.

                    9,833

3RD

SKIN DISEASE

                    2,507

4TH

ACUTE

                    2,245

5TH

PREGNANCY & RELATED COMPLICATIONS

                       1,125

6T

RHEUMATISM & JOINT PAINS

                       838

7TH

PNEUMONIA

                       796

8TH

ANAEMIA

                       555

9TH

MEASLES

                       534

10TH

Out of these diseases and the numbers recoded in 2001, 3,534 were admitted and 161 died. The situation therefore requires serious governmental intervention since the only highest health service delivery point in the district is the District Hospital.


Problems

  • Completion of children’s ward
  • Re-design of theatre
  • Supply of beds, theatrical equipment’s and drugs
  • Completion of three phase electrification by VRA
  • Staff Accommodation
  • To operate the three proposed wards a minimum of 18 nurses will be needed
  • The outpatient department theatre and dressing rooms will need a nurse each
  • Yikpabongu health centre is without staff. A minimum of 3 staff of various categories is needed to operate the centre
  • Need to create blood bank


Date Created : 11/27/2017 3:50:24 AM