Accra, Oct.5, GNA- Findings of “Ghana’s COVID-19 Frontline Health Service Assessment” has shown that the level of management of COVID-19 cases in primary healthcare facilities is “inadequate.”
This is because patients do not have access to information on COVID-19 Infection Prevention Control (IPC) and care at the facilities.
A primary healthcare facility is expected to provide health education on prevailing health problems and methods of prevention and control as well as general services in a community.
Dr Edith Wellington, a Researcher at the Research and Development Division, Ghana Health Service, who disseminated findings of the assessment in Accra on Wednesday, said the survey revealed gaps in the availability in testing facilities, oxygen, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds.
The assessment conducted by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights and the Ghana Health Service also showed that health workers who managed COVID-19 cases were not well protected.
“There wasn’t enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for staff as well as training and support for frontline staff, the availability of medicines and diagnostics is still a challenge,”
Dr Wellington said.
He said there were also gaps in the availability of therapeutics, testing facilities and oxygen and called for concerted efforts to equip the facilities with the necessary tools to enhance their effectiveness.
Madam Vicky Okanine, Executive Director, Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), said since 2021, the Ghana Health Service in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) had been undertaking periodic assessments to identify health system bottlenecks impeding the rapid deployment of essential tools for the management of COIV-19 cases.
She said the periodic assessment was part of WHO’s Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator Plan for Ghana, which sought to monitor and track health facilities readiness and case management capacity for COIVID-19.
It also assessed the continuity of essential health services in the context of COVID-19 to help strengthen the country’s intelligence.
The research indicated that health workers needed more training to enhance COVID testing capacities.
They also need medicines and more PPEs to protect themselves.
