This impunity must stop

Healthcare delivery is an integral part of every society and lack of investment and attention in that sector has the tendency to cause a catastrophe.

Investment in the health sector requires that much dignity is accorded health professionals who are at the centre of healthcare delivery.

Healthcare professionals always complain about the myriad of challenges they encounter as they go about their duties. But it appears not much is done about those complaints.

It, therefore, comes as no surprise that health personnel at the various health centres in the Wa West District in the Upper West Region have threatened to leave the region because of persistent attacks on them by robbers (refer to page 3).

In August alone, 14 health workers were robbed in broad daylight of their various personal belongings, including sandals, while on their way to and from their places of work.

Apart from that huge challenge, potable water has become a scarce commodity in the area, making life unbearable for the residents.

There are also four non-functional CHPS compounds due to the lack of basic medical equipment.

Already, health professionals have been refusing posting to deprived communities due to lack of potable water, poor road networks and lack of basic medical equipment.

All these go a long way to paint a very bad picture of some of these communities. If nurses refuse posting there, it does not only affect the healthcare delivery system but also discourages investors from going to set up businesses in such areas.

The authorities should know that those health professionals have sacrificed enough to be in some of those communities and so they should not be paid back in such a manner.

We, therefore, add our voice to the appeal by the Director of Health Services in the area, Mr Clifford Veng, to the traditional rulers and elders for an immediate resolution of the problem in the area.

The Police Administration must also be up and doing and act swiftly to save the situation before it gets out of control. The residents also live with these miscreants and are better placed to blow their cover.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) must also collaborate with the police and ensure that every health professional posted to any part of the country is adequately secure to be able to provide the needed health care for Ghanaians.

Already, the nation is faced with issues of wrong prescriptions, porous national borders, the abuse of drugs such as tramadol, fake drugs and their debilitating effects on humans, lack of proper supervision and standards to ensure guaranteed efficacy and inadequate education on safe drug use among the populace.

Certainly we cannot add this state of lawlessness and sheer impudence to our woes.