The Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the Upper East Region says a total of twenty-seven health facilities across the region broke the malaria treatment protocol guidelines to test every suspected malaria case before treatment.
Out of the number, the GHS indicated that most of the culprits were private healthcare facilities located in the Bawku Municipality, Pusiga and Bawku West Districts.
It listed the Quality Medical Centre, the Everjoy Medical Centre and Case Medical Centre all in Bawku Municipality, the Akunye Memorial Clinic in the Pusiga District and the Zongoire Health Centre in the Bawku West District as the facilities with the highest numbers of untested but treated malaria cases.
This came to light at the 2021 annual regional health performance review meeting of the GHS in Bolgatanga on the theme: “Harnessing the contributions of all stakeholders in reducing the high occurrences of maternal deaths in the Upper East Region.”
The Service disclosed that the Quality Medical Centre recorded 2,895 uncomplicated malaria cases which were not tested but treated in 2021, while the Akunye Memorial Clinic and the Case Medical Centre both recorded 2,320 and 1,769 untested but treated malaria cases respectively.
It further disclosed that both Everjoy Medical and the Zongoire Health Centres equally recorded 837 and 853 untested but treated malaria cases respectively.
Speaking exclusively to WordNews on the issue, the Regional Focal Person for Malaria, Mr Sydney Abilba, expressed concern about the attitudes of some health facilities in the treatment of malaria, and stressed the need for all healthcare facilities in the region to strictly adhere to the protocol of testing before treating every suspected malaria cases.
“In the year under review, we saw that some of the health facilities were not following the safety protocols. We are all aware of the treatment protocol in Ghana Health Service, that is every suspected malaria case needs to be tested and treated,” he said.
Mr Abilba called on all stakeholders concerned in the fight against malaria to ensure that proper testing to actually confirm the disease was done, and the appropriate treatment administered, to reduce the prevalence of the disease in the region to the barest minimum.
He, however, noted that there was acceptable range of care that the GHS agreed on for untested treatment for severe malaria, and explained that per the protocols, it was allowed for blood samples to be taken for laboratory investigation for confirmation, while treatment was commenced.
The Focal Person said the GHS in the region would continue to intensify its effort to ensure that suspected malaria cases were tested before treatment, adding that “There is support from the National Malaria Control Programme to ensure some of these issues do not occur again.”
Source:mywordfmonline.com/Gaspard Ayuureneeya