Navrongo (UE/R), May 21, GNA - Mr Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister, on Wednesday appealed to doctors in the region to continue to run full work schedule and not join some of their colleagues who were embarking on work to rule.

He said many communities in the region were poor and had no means to seek private medical care that was not even available. Mr. Woyongo said this when he visited the Navrongo War Memorial Hospital to assess the conditions prevailing there. "Yours is to save life, and nobody will like to see people die if the situation can be helped, you will surely receive your due when the situation improves, we ask you to bear with us", he urged. He expressed concern about the lack of adequate doctors, particularly specialists, in the region and pledged to liaise with the Ministry of Health to explore the possibility of posting specialists there once every month to help out with special cases. He said there was good accommodation available at Bolgatanga for any doctor posted to the Region.

Currently, the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga has only two specialist doctors, without any at the District hospitals. Mr Philip Amati, manager of the hospital's laboratory, told the Minister that there was not enough equipment to undertake medical tests. He said HIV related testing equipment, which the hospital received eight months ago, remained uninstalled because the technicians assigned for the job had not yet found time to do so. Mr Amati said the Hospital needed a blood refrigerator for storing blood for later use.