The Minister of Health, Major Courage Quashigah (retd) , has called on donor agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to assist his ministry to motivate health personnel who are based in the rural areas.

He said most health centres in the rural areas lacked adequate health facilities and that serves as de-motivation to health personnel to carry out their duties effectively.

Major Quashigah made the call on Thursday in Doba, a community in the Kassena Nankana District in the Upper East Region.

The Health Minister embarked on a two-day tour of the Kassena-Nankana, Bongo, Talensi-Nabdam and Bawku districts to assess the extent of damage caused by the flood to health facilities in those areas.

He was accompanied by the Director-Gen¬eral of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health, Alhaji M.N.D. Jawula and the Director-General of Health Services of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier Joseph Ayettey.

The rest Were the Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Madam Trudy Bower-Pirinis, the Chief Nursing Officer of the GHS, Mrs May Osei-Addae, the Upper East Regional Director ofthe GHS, Dr Joseph Amankwa and the Upper East Regional Director of Public Health, Dr Nsiire Agana.

The health minister expressed worry about the deplorable state of some health centres in the region and called on the Upper East Regional Directorate of the GHS to ensure that they were improved upon.

He entreated the WFP to ensure that adequate food aid was dispatched to the region to curb the imminent famine that was likely to hit the region, saying "food is a necessity in maintaining the good health of a human being."

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Kassena-Nankana, Mr Emmanuel Chegeweh, briefing the minister on the extent of damage caused by the floods, said his district was the worst affected in the region in terms of displaced people.

According to him, 11 roads and one bridge had been affected by the floods, adding "6,000 houses and 13,000 living rooms had been destroyed, resulting in the displacement of 43,205 people and the death of three people."

He said most of the displaced people were residing in schools and health compounds, stressing "food supply to the victims is woefully inadequate".

At Bawku, Major Quashigah asked Districts Assemblies to seek professional advice as to the type of houses they should put up in the affected areas to avert a recurrence of the destruction of houses during floods.

He, however, urged the Assemblies to ensure that the new houses that were to be built had strong foundations that could withstand flood and other natural disasters.

He also urged the assemblies to ensure that displaced schoolchildren were sent back to school to continue their education.

Addressing staff of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, the Health Minister said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning had approved a new salary structure for health workers.

That, he said, was intended to motivate health workers to improve their work and, for that matter, the quality of health care delivery in the country.

Dr Sory advised doctors to accept postings to deprived areas and that "doctors who are not ready to work in the deprived areas would not be employed by the GHS".

Thirty nine health facilities in the region were destroyed by the flood, making health care inaccessible to many people, especially those in the rural areas.

Some of the flood victims whose houses were destroyed by the floods have turned some of those health facilities into their dwelling places.

Source: Daily Graphic