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The Brong-Ahafo Region Health Directorate has recorded marked improvement in the reduction of cholera from 1,056 reported cases in 2014 to 64 in 2015, Dr. Timothy Letsa, the Regional Director of Health Services stated on Tuesday in Sunyani.

He said strategies including intensified sanitation sensitization drive and health surveillance for the identification of diseases of public health concern and immediate health interventions, were the reason for the achievement.

Added to this, maternal deaths also dropped from 95 per cent in 2014 to 87 per cent in 2015, with new born survival receiving a remarkable boost as 99.9 per cent of mothers initiated breastfeeding within one-hour after delivery.

Dr. Letsa who was addressing the opening of a three-day 2015 annual performance review of the Regional Health Directorate attributed this to skilled and supervised delivery and said strenuous efforts were being made to further reduce the incidence to save more mothers.

Efforts are also underway to address midwife attrition in the Region which reduced from 65 per cent in 2014 to 62 in 2015 as they proceeded on retirement.

This would be done by replacing the superannuated midwives as the shortage could undermine the success so far chalked.

The meeting brought together Municipal and District Directors of Health, Heads of Departments, District Hospitals Managers Heads of health training institutions, traditional rulers and the media.

It aimed at reviewing the Directorate’s 2015 performance and strategize for improved and sustainable health delivery in 2016. 

He however mentioned that low birth weight and malnutrition of children under five remained a challenge as the former increased from 6.6 in 2014 to 9.0 per cent in 2015 whilst 4.6 per cent of the under-fives, were malnourished.

“Still-birth rate remained unchanged at 1.7 and I hope the figure would be reduced in the year to save newborn babies”, he added.

Dr. Lesta said the outbreak of meningitis which increased the incidence from 41 reported cases in 2014 to 57 in 2015, was a challenge,     

Mr. Justice Samuel Adjei, Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister commended health workers in the Region for their efforts in improving health delivery services to the general public in spite of all their constraints.

He said government had made a lot of efforts to reduce challenges confronting health service delivery in the country and assured that it would continue to provide the necessary support for personnel in the health sector to perform better.