Dr Patrick Atobrah, the Medical Superintendent of the Bawku West District Hospital, has cautioned health personnel against carrying out abortions in their houses.

He said the situation is alarming and urged pregnant women who have problems with foetal movement or any other difficulty to report immediately to the nearest hospital to prevent complications.

Dr Atobrah was speaking at the 2015 Health Performance Review of the District health Directorate.

The event was on the theme: “Adequate resourcing of district health services, a key to improving maternal and child health”.

The meeting attracted health workers from all 34 health centres in the District and opinion leaders to deliberate on their performance in 2015 and strategise for the year.

He said the District Hospital was well prepared to handle emergency cases and advised both health centres and private health facilities to refer cases beyond their control to the hospital.

Dr Atobrah expressed dissatisfaction with the behaviour of some major referral hospitals, saying they often delayed in handling emergency cases.

Dr Atobrah said the District Hospital currently had no laundry equipment and the only haematology machine serving the whole District, which was acquired about five years ago, had broken down.

“In all the wards especially the pediatric ward mothers are compelled to lie on the floor in the rainy season when admissions at the hospital peaks, this could lead to infections”, he said.

Mr Benjamin Aggrey, the District Health Director, said the District recorded 14 neonatal deaths in 2015 as compared to 2014 and 2013 when it recorded five and six respectively; and maternal deaths reduced from five in 2014 to two in the year under review.

He said teenage pregnancy increased from 7.6 per cent in 2013 to 17.6 per cent both in 2014 and 2015; and supervised deliveries increased from 78.2 per cent in 2013 to 88.5 per cent and 88.3 per cent in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Mr Aggrey commended health workers in the District and called on them to “work genuinely to enjoy what you earn”.

The Health Director expressed gratitude to Naba Yusuf Akebelingo VI, the Chief of Tilli, for providing a four room accommodation block to health workers in his town to aid in health delivery.