The Akyem Oda Government hospital recorded 20 maternal deaths last year as against 23 deaths in 2005, Dr. Yaw Otchere, the District Director of Health Services has disclosed. Speaking at an annual performance review meeting at Akyem Oda, he expressed worry about the high incidence of maternal mortality in the area, saying the hospital from January to February this year had recorded nine of such deaths. Dr. Otchere appealed to health workers and volunteers to educate pregnant women on the need to attend ante-natal clinics regularly. He said last year a total number of eight insured in-patients died at the hospital as against a high death rate of 359 non-insured patients. Dr. Otchere said the figure really proved the importance of the Health Insurance Scheme as people insured had medical checks periodically, while the non- insured could not do so due to lack of funds. On HIV/AIDS, the district director said a total number of 974 cases had been reported at the hospital from 1998 to last year out of which 640 cases were female. He mentioned some of the measures being taken to control the pandemic in the area as promotion of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), condom promotion and home based care for People Living With HIV/AIDS and their relatives among others. On Expanded Programme of Immunization, (EPI) Dr Otchere said 82.7 percent coverage was achieved last year as against 88.7 percentage recorded in 2005. He said 47,399 children were dosed with vitamin A supplement in 2006 as against 56,389 children in the preceding year, representing a decrease of 19 percent. He said their target this year was to increase health services in deprived areas, improve quality of care and strengthen disease surveillance activities with emphasis on Community Based Surveillance among others. Dr. Otchere mentioned some of their challenges as eradication/ elimination of Polio, Guinea worm and leprosy and to fashion-out effective ways to motivate staff, especially in the advent of increase work-load. He said inadequate staff, lack of casualty ward, inadequate staff accommodation, and over-aged equipment were some of the constraints facing them. Mr. Frank Kwame Busumtwi, the Birim South District Chief Executive, who chaired the function urged communities to ensure that their environment was cleaned at all times to reduce the incidence of communicable diseases. GNA