No Space For Nurses

THE HUGE number of community health nurses who complete their courses at community health training colleges in the country yearly, is becoming a major challenge for health workers since there is not enough space to accommodate them at health facilities. Lack of accommodation, both official and residential for health workers particularly in new and fairly new districts, has also created a situation where experienced health staff are not motivated to work in those areas. Dr. Kofi Sutherland, Ahanta West District Director of Health made this known at the opening of the 19th Annual Conference of the District Directors of Health Services Group (DDHG) in Takoradi recently. He commended the Ministry of Health for its efforts in expanding the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) which he said would help place community health nurses in the districts to help address some of the problems related to health inequalities there. He however appealed to the ministry to convert about a third of all community health training colleges into midwifery training schools to enhance career progression. He added that this would help meet the real demands of increasing the number of midwives in Ghana who would in turn help reduce maternal and child mortality. Dr. Sutherland, who is also National Chairman of the District Directors of Health, noted that the MPs Health Fund derived from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) was becoming an albatross around the neck of some district directors since there were no clear guidelines regarding its use. He appealed to the MOH to engage the NHIA, GHS and the legislature to develop a clear guideline that would spell out the roles of MPs and the DDHS in the disbursement of the fund. He pointed out that implementing the Affordable Medicine for Malaria (AMFM) policy was becoming a challenge since no grace period was given to exhaust the huge quantities of anti-malaria drugs bought from regional medical stores at prices higher than the AMFM prices. Dr. Kweku Anin Karikari, Acting Western Regional Director of Health Services mentioned that the DDHG which was aimed at strengthening health care delivery in Ghana had gone a long way in structuring the health system in Ghana.