Trauma and orthopaedic cases make up a significant portion of the general cases recorded in health facilities across the country.

However, the issues of inadequate infrastructure, logistics, and lack of specialists have become major setbacks in resolving some patients' conditions.

These worrying trends in the health sector dominated discussions at the second Annual General and Scientific Meeting of the Orthopedic Association of Ghana.

The event which was held in Accra brought together medical experts and other stakeholders to dialogue on the way forward.

Speaking to JoyNews on the sidelines of the meeting, a Lecturer at the University of Allied Sciences, Dr Hobisah revealed that there are only 54 certified orthopaedic surgeons operating in Ghana.

“One of our biggest challenges is our numbers. Presently the numbers are so few and if we are to look at the Agenda 111, that means if we are to give every district one specialist, it means the hospitals operating now, will not even get one.

“So the numbers are woefully inadequate. And if you look at the number of trauma cases we produce as a country, the situation is worrying.”

An Orthopedic Surgeon at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr Kuma Amatekper also added that the high cost of logistics used in treating trauma cases adds up to the challenge.

“Our main challenge is how to set up the regional hospitals to be equipped enough to allow us to have our doctors sent there so that they can offer the services that the country needs from us,” he noted.