The absence of Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) in the Oti Region has become a cause of concern for quality healthcare delivery in the Region.

According to the Oti Regional Director for Health, Dr. Osei Kuffour Afreh there has been a surge in neonatal mortality in the region, which has become a challenge for his outfit.

He stated that this surge is attributable to the absence of functioning NICUs in most of the hospitals in the Oti Region.

In Dr. Afreh’s presentation during the 2023 half-year review meeting, he noted that “neonatal mortality rates increased from 1.2% in the half year of 2022 to 3.6% during the same period in 2023. It means when our children are born, within the first 28 days, they die.”

This surge in neonatal mortality, he said, is concerning, emphasising that the deaths usually occur during the first five days after the babies have been born.

Per reports, the supposed Regional hospital, Worawora Government Hospital, currently has only one functioning incubator and a baby warmer to take care of newly born babies with health complications.

Dr. Afreh told JoyNews that an analysis conducted by his outfit indicated that the region lacks “proper neonatal intensive care units (NICU).” He further bemoaned, “We don’t even have incubators to be able to incubate babies who are delivered prematurely.”

The Regional Health Director then implored the government to assist healthcare workers in the region by providing them with the needed facilities and equipment to help remedy the situation.

He said, “We are appealing that we need NICU; at least 2, 3 or 4 of our hospitals should have a very functional NICU with all the equipment —the infant warmers, the incubators, and a few other gadgets— that will really help. But the region needs an ultra-modern neonatal intensive care unit to help manage the neonates.”

Additionally, he raised that the Oti Region still depends on the Volta Region for its critical medical supplies, as the region lacks a Regional medical store.

Dr. Afreh indicated that the non-availability of regional medical stores is another challenge that is adversely affecting quality health service delivery in Oti.

Also on factors hindering quality health delivery in Oti Region, the Director for Nursing and Midwifery of the Ghana Health Service, Mrs. Eva Mensah stated that the brain drain in the nursing and midwifery sector is to be blamed for the prevailing challenge.

She stated that this was accountable for the shortage of medical personnel and the strain on healthcare in the Oti Region.

Mrs Mensah said, “We are losing nurses to greener pastures, and currently, midwives have also joined the diaspora for better conditions of service… International market is looking for experienced nurses, they are looking for nurses who have specialties, so those who are going mainly are experienced, and they have specialties.

“Some of them are as high as Principal Nursing Officers. Some of them are even Deputy Directors and they are leaving for greener pastures. So it is worrying. I wouldn’t say we have data on its effect now; what I can say is it is affecting health service delivery.”

 Among the aforementioned challenges, the continuous absence of a secondary referral facilities in the region is another factor that is affecting the quality of health delivery services in the region.