Ms Comfort Amoako-Annan, a senior nurse, disclosed this at the 2016 annual health sector performance review meeting organized by the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa (AOB) District directorate of Ghana Health Service held at Breman Asikuma the District Capital.

She said the Directorate has 26 health facilities, made up of 23 government facilities (three health centres and 20 CHPS Compounds), one quasi-government, one mission and one private and a number of trained Traditional Births Attendants  TBAs)in the District working under it.

She said during the year under review the District recorded one cholera case but it was well managed against zero in 2015, zero yellow fever in 2016 against zero in 2015 and zero measles recorded in 2016.

According to her the achievements made during the year under review was due to measures which the District Health Management Team put in place and with the support of the Sub-District Management Teams, Trained Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and cooperation from the various community members in the District.

She mentioned early referrals and counselling given to pregnant women to attend Anti Natal Clinic (ANC) as some of the measures that were put in place.

She said Out Patients Department (OPD) Per Capita in 2014 reduced from 12 percent to 1.2 percent in 2015 and to one percent in 2016, adding that still births increased from 102 per cent in 2012 to 115 per cent in 2013, reduced to 112 per cent in 2014, reduced to 57per cent in 2015 and increased to 64 per cent in 2016.

Post Natal Care coverage reduced from 72.6per cent in 2014 to 67 per cent in 2015 and increased to 70 per cent in 2016, Vitamin A for children between 6 month and 59 months increased from 17,079 representing 74.5 per cent  to 17,982 representing 76.1 per cent and to 23,394 representing 96 per cent in 2016, she stated.

Ms. Amoako-Annan lamented further that Family Planning Acceptance reduced from 32.8 per cent in 2014 to 31 per cent in 2015 against 29 per cent in 2016, while Malaria continue to top the ten OPD cases with 35,931 cases against 34,431 in 2015 and 17,413 in 2014 and Anaemia still at the bottom with 8,299 in 2016, 8,165 in 2015 and 5,459 in 2014.

She stated further that activities planned for the District carried out in 2016 included, establishment of adolescent health and sanitation clubs at Breman Asikuma Senor High School, initiation of out-reach ANC in each sub-district, registration of pregnant women through home visitation and sensitizations durbars for TBAs on the importance of hospital delivery and the need for early referral.

Dr. Kweku Annin Karikari, a Deputy Director at the Central Regional Health Directorate commended the District Health Management Team for good work done and advocate for periodic review performance meeting to give accounts of their job to community members of their catchment area, to get their inputs and to work with it towards quality health care delivery.