FEMALE CONDOM LEAST PREFERRED
FEMALE CONDOM LEAST PREFERRED July 16, 2009
BY Peter Atogewe Wedam, ISD - Gambaga
The female condom is the least preferred among methods of family planning in the East Mamprusi district of the Northern region. Depo provera and the male condom however top the list of preferred choices with the former registering a patronage of 3,526 whilst the latter recorded 2,032 in usage for the first half of 2009.
The Jawani CHPS compound is the only health facility in the district that recorded a significant patronage of the female condom within the period. The East Mamprusi district director of health services Mr. Thomas Sennor, disclosed this in a presentation during the district’s half year review meeting held at Gambaga.
The director stated that maternal and child health care are a priority of the Ghana Health Service [GHS] in the Northern Region and the country as a whole because of high morbidity and mortality in the region. He stated that the district recorded four maternal deaths and 27 still births for the half year which he said is unacceptable.
He therefore urged health staff not rest on their oars in but continue to improve on maternal and child health to ensure the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals four and five. He entreated health staff to adopt more serious attitude towards work adding that it is also the responsibility of mothers especially pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics regularly for any possible complications to be corrected before child birth.
Mr. Sennor noted that immunization remains a sure way of curbing childhood diseases with particular reference to polio which has been targeted for elimination in the country. He also said that malaria tops the list of first10 top causes of hospital consultation but added that the Ghana Health Service and partners have put in many interventions such as the provision of insecticide treated nets to mothers and children, the use of Artesunate-Amodiaquine for treatment, among others and the recent indoor residual spraying as strategies to reduce the burden of malaria, especially in pregnant women and children under five years old.
The director expressed concern that hypertension was rising among the top 10 diseases and attributed the phenomenon to unhealthy lifestyles being lead by people, lack of physical exercise and eating of junk foods.
Beside lack of staff, Mr. Sennor raised the concern of bad data management on the part of staff and urged them to adopt proper techniques in data handling and ensure information flow at all times since the health directorate needs such information to be able to fashion out its action plan.
In a presentation for the Gambaga sub-district, Mr. Abdulai Iddrisu observed that the Gambaga eye clinic, the only of its kind in East Mamprusi, has treated 303 cataract cases, 50 cases of glaucoma and 34 cases of refractive error during the period under review. The clinic successfully operated 2,341 eye diseases from 2007 to June, 2009.
A Baptist Medical Centre [BMC] staff, Mr. Stephen Yidi admitted that a few maternal deaths that occurred at health facilities could be prevented if some health staff had taken extra caution. This notwithstanding, the BMC made some achievements as it was able to offer in-service training for its staff, established an HIV/AIDS treatment unit and also acquired a chemical analyzer to fast track laboratory investigations.
He said since the BMC started offering services to the national health insurance scheme in 2005, its OPD attendance figures have risen from 20,992 in 2008 to 22,553 for the first six months of 2009.
According to Mr. Yidi, malaria and anemia ranked high among the top ten causes of OPD attendance from January to June this year. Malaria accounted for 776 admissions whilst anemia caused the admission of 466 patients.
His presentation also puts malaria under five deaths at 44 high over that of 28 recorded in 2008. The BMC however, has not recorded any malaria in pregnancy for the first half of the year.
BY Peter Atogewe Wedam, ISD - Gambaga
The female condom is the least preferred among methods of family planning in the East Mamprusi district of the Northern region. Depo provera and the male condom however top the list of preferred choices with the former registering a patronage of 3,526 whilst the latter recorded 2,032 in usage for the first half of 2009.
The Jawani CHPS compound is the only health facility in the district that recorded a significant patronage of the female condom within the period. The East Mamprusi district director of health services Mr. Thomas Sennor, disclosed this in a presentation during the district’s half year review meeting held at Gambaga.
The director stated that maternal and child health care are a priority of the Ghana Health Service [GHS] in the Northern Region and the country as a whole because of high morbidity and mortality in the region. He stated that the district recorded four maternal deaths and 27 still births for the half year which he said is unacceptable.
He therefore urged health staff not rest on their oars in but continue to improve on maternal and child health to ensure the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals four and five. He entreated health staff to adopt more serious attitude towards work adding that it is also the responsibility of mothers especially pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics regularly for any possible complications to be corrected before child birth.
Mr. Sennor noted that immunization remains a sure way of curbing childhood diseases with particular reference to polio which has been targeted for elimination in the country. He also said that malaria tops the list of first10 top causes of hospital consultation but added that the Ghana Health Service and partners have put in many interventions such as the provision of insecticide treated nets to mothers and children, the use of Artesunate-Amodiaquine for treatment, among others and the recent indoor residual spraying as strategies to reduce the burden of malaria, especially in pregnant women and children under five years old.
The director expressed concern that hypertension was rising among the top 10 diseases and attributed the phenomenon to unhealthy lifestyles being lead by people, lack of physical exercise and eating of junk foods.
Beside lack of staff, Mr. Sennor raised the concern of bad data management on the part of staff and urged them to adopt proper techniques in data handling and ensure information flow at all times since the health directorate needs such information to be able to fashion out its action plan.
In a presentation for the Gambaga sub-district, Mr. Abdulai Iddrisu observed that the Gambaga eye clinic, the only of its kind in East Mamprusi, has treated 303 cataract cases, 50 cases of glaucoma and 34 cases of refractive error during the period under review. The clinic successfully operated 2,341 eye diseases from 2007 to June, 2009.
A Baptist Medical Centre [BMC] staff, Mr. Stephen Yidi admitted that a few maternal deaths that occurred at health facilities could be prevented if some health staff had taken extra caution. This notwithstanding, the BMC made some achievements as it was able to offer in-service training for its staff, established an HIV/AIDS treatment unit and also acquired a chemical analyzer to fast track laboratory investigations.
He said since the BMC started offering services to the national health insurance scheme in 2005, its OPD attendance figures have risen from 20,992 in 2008 to 22,553 for the first six months of 2009.
According to Mr. Yidi, malaria and anemia ranked high among the top ten causes of OPD attendance from January to June this year. Malaria accounted for 776 admissions whilst anemia caused the admission of 466 patients.
His presentation also puts malaria under five deaths at 44 high over that of 28 recorded in 2008. The BMC however, has not recorded any malaria in pregnancy for the first half of the year.
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