The Upper West Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) on Tuesday said it was exploring all means possible to reduce the acute shortage of doctors and retain the few to improve health service delivery in the region.

The Regional Minister, Sahanun Mogtari said the RCC was working out an appropriate incentive package for doctors and was also giving modest support to the 11 Cuban doctors serving in the region.

Speaking at a press encounter dubbed: "Meet the Press", Mogtari also appealed to doctors hailing from the region and others serving in other regions to at least visit the Upper West during their leave to help in the health sector.

The Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs initiated the encounter to throw light on development projects in the regions since January 2001.

Mogtari said the region faces acute staffing problems in its health institutions. One doctor serves 32,032 patients and one nurse 1,237. There are only seven Ghanaian doctors in the six government hospitals in the region with a population of more than 576,000.

The region also has only two private hospitals. There is no regional hospital and, according to Mogtari, the government hospital at Wa, the regional capital, originally meant to serve as a district hospital now takes care of all referrals in the region.

"The hospital is now overburdened and is unable to cope with the mounting pressure. The need for a regional hospital is therefore, overwhelming," Mogtari said. He announced that a piece of land had been acquired for the construction of a regional hospital and appealed to the Ministry of Health to expedite work on the project.

Mogtari said in the face of the high poverty levels, under the cash and carry system, access to health services had become rather difficult. He said under the period, supply of drugs and equipment increased significantly an accommodation for doctors and paramedical staff improved.

The Nurses Training School in Jirapa was also rehabilitated and expanded. Mogtari said the RCC in collaboration with the Ghana Social Marketing Foundation and the District AIDS Committees had intensified public education to create awareness, adding that the focus was on supporting community-based organisations to get involved in the fight against the disease.

The Upper West Regional Minister said the youth must be occupied during the dry season and his outfit was stressing the construction of dams to ensure an all year round agriculture production to stem the tide of mass migration from the region. Figures have it that 168,435 indigenes from the Upper West Region are resident in the Brong Ahafo Region alone.