A national programme to recruit 2,500 graduates from health related schools to engage in sustained health education and disease prevention has been launched in Bolgatanga. The programme, a joint collaboration between the Ministry of Health and Better Ghana Management Services Limited, is intended to create the platform for a healthy lifestyle in fulfilment of the "Better Ghana" agenda. Known as the Health Promotion Officers and Assistants Programme (HPA/O), the initiative will provide employment opportunities to graduates from schools of hygiene, private health training institutions, senior high schools and health extension officers who could not be absorbed into the public health sector over the last three years. Already, managers of the programme have taken delivery of 12 new 4X4 Toyota Double-Cabin Pick-Ups for Regional Monitoring Teams and about 2,500 motorbikes for the HPOs/HPAs to enable them to commute easily to and from their respective work places. Launching the programme, which was attended by Members of Parliament (MPs), chiefs, municipal and district chief executives and directors of health services, the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbour said even though there had been increases in the provision of physical infrastructure in the health sector over the years, they had not translated into tangible health outcomes. He said there were still increases in the number of reported cases of malaria, diarrhoea, HIV AIDS and communicable diseases in hospitals, as well as non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cancers. The situation, he said, could not be addressed by clinical services alone if lifestyles which perpetuated such health conditions did not change. Dr Kunbour said globally, there was an increasing focus on preventive health care because it had become a key source of cost saving in healthcare delivery systems. He said the promotion and maintenance of health and well-being of the people were assuming greater importance as key function for primary healthcare. "Governments globally are therefore, adopting preventive health programmes that focus on the provision of information through the use of health workers. Thus, re-orienting the primary healthcare systems towards prevention is a key objective of the healthcare reform processes internationally and is considered a key driver in tackling health inequalities," he said. Dr Kunbour stated that empirical evidence showed that preventive health cost was less than curative health care and in the long run, could bring more benefits to both the government and the people. He added that by focusing on disease prevention, the government could make major impacts on the health conditions of people. The minister said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as per its party manifesto, had plans to implement health promotion programmes that would create awareness through a systematic, aggressive, consistent and interactive public health education on HIV AIDS, malaria, cholera, tuberculosis and flu. The Upper East Regional Director of Health Services Dr John Koku Awoonor-Williams said the programme would complement the tremendous strides the region was making within the health sector. The General Manager of Better Ghana Management Services Limited, Mrs Beatrice Amponsah, said the role of the company was among others, to provide technical support for the recruitment of the HPOS/HPAs in collaboration with district health directorates and metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies. Source: Daily Graphic