He said the Directorate exceeded its annual malaria death prevention target of 0.08 per cent and commended health workers in the region for their hard work.

Addressing the 2022 Annual Health Performance Review meeting of the Directorate held at Goaso, the regional capital, Dr. Boakye-Boateng said the Directorate also performed well by achieving significant gains in maternal mortality in the region.

The meeting was on the theme: “Building Resilient Health System Networks to Achieve Universal Health Coverage: The Role of Stakeholders and Health Managers.”

“The Directorate also had a 52/100,000 maternal mortality ratio out of the target of 125/100,000 in the year under review”, Dr. Boakye-Boateng stated, and called on all stakeholders including institutions, development partners and NGOs to support towards achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

He said the role of stakeholders in the Directorate’s forward-march to achieve the UHC could not be overemphasized, saying the nation had made gains in quality health care service delivery and “we must all contribute to achieving the UHC by 2030”.

Dr. Boakye-Boateng explained the nation’s health systems required resilient health systems networks to tackle the COVID-19 devastating impact, saying “health is centrally placed in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the UHC is recognized as a unifying platform for making progress on SDGs goal three.”

The United Nations global goal three ensures healthy lives and promotes well-being for all by 2023.
He said building resilient health system networks could only be achieved through the collective, shared efforts, and called for effective collaboration among all stakeholders in the health sector.

In a speech read on his behalf, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, expressed worry about the rate at which the nation was losing its health workers to other countries to seek greener pastures elsewhere.

He noted the COVID-19 pandemic was still in the country and urged health service providers and workers to increase awareness for more people to be vaccinated and protect themselves.

Dr. Kuma-Aboagye urged everybody to take preventive measures and protect themselves against the outbreak of Lassa fever disease.