Health officials in the Akrofuom district have complained about the increasing rate of hypertension cases in the district.
It has been revealed that hypertension which occurs when the blood pressure increases to unhealthy levels in humans have joined the top ten cases in the district as at the middle of the year.
This was revealed at the 2021 Half Year Performance Review programme of the Health Directorate held recently at Akrofuom, the district capital.
In a presentation delivered by the District Nutrition Officer, Mr. Joseph Annor, he revealed that surprisingly hypertension has joined the top ten health cases that were reported at all the health facilities in the district. There were a total of 161 cases of hypertension and top on the list was malaria which recorded 4,124 followed by upper respiratory tract infections and diarrhoea disease with 1,370 and 596 respectively.
Mr. Annor again revealed that as at June this year, only 1 covid-19 case had been recorded despite a total of 12 samples picked. He therefore urged authorities to increase the education on the need to adhere to the covid-19 protocols in order to prevent the district from recording the disease in the coming years.
He again revealed that the directorate undertook durbars to sensitise the public especially the youth on teenage pregnancy which is very prevalent in the district. These durbars were held at Okyerekrom, Alata and Sikaman. He again called on the management of the District Assembly to help intensify the education in order to reduce this menace to the barest minimum.
The District Director for Health, Mr. John Baffoe Yeboah also thanked the District Assembly for their support in the past years. He revealed that the major challenge confronting the sector in the district has to do with inadequate staffing, revealing that the district has a total of only seventy-three (73) personnels which is woefully inadequate to cater for the needs of 45,150 people in the district. He therefore appealed to the authorities to help solve the situation which was really affecting health care delivery in the district.
For his part, the District Coordinating Director, Mr. Ebenezer Douglas Ntiamoah who represented the District Chief Executive, congratulated the staff in the district for their contribution to the district and urged them to continue to give off their best. He added that the Assembly was very much aware of the various challenges that are being faced in the various facilities and efforts are underway to address all of them.
He also urged them to continue to serve the people of Akrofuom diligently in order to save lives.
In attendance were senior health practitioners at all the 7 health facilities in the district, the District Budget Analyst, District Director of Education, District Social Welfare and Community Development Officer and the District Information Officer.