MOH signs aide memoir with partners
The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday signed aide memoirs with its Health Partners based on discussions, conclusions and agreements after a five-day health summit in Accra.
It was a joint declaration and points of action to strengthen Ghana’s health system to broaden and include stakeholders in the Health Sector Leadership Development Programme.
The memoirs called for a review of the Upper West Region’s Facilitative Supervision Initiative by the end of March 2011 and a proposal for its replication in other regions for presentation at the May 2011 MOH Partners meeting.
Dr Daniel Kertesz, WHO Country Representative, signed on behalf of the Health Partners, while Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, Minister of Health, represented the Government of Ghana.
The summit on the theme: “Need to Accelerate Progress Towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Targets,” discussed the weak level of governance at the district level, weak supervision of health systems, weak facilitative supervision of health systems as well as the inequalities in the distribution of health staff across the country.
Dr Kertesz said participants identified numerous challenges facing the medical staff that should be reviewed and revised by end of June 2011, for discussion at the August 2011 Business Meeting.
The memoirs requested the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to start the implementation of performance contract system by January 2011, while the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Health Administrations should be mandated to collect, manage and report data from all sources, including the private sector, on the their Health Information System platform based on directives from the Director-General of GHS also effective January 2011.
It indicated that the transition from District Health Information Management Systems (DHIMS) to DHIMS Two be completed by the end of June 2011, with an update to the August 2011 Business Meeting.
“An update on the revision of the national health research agenda to be presented for discussion at the March 2011 MOH-Partners meeting, and the revision to be completed by June 2011,” it said.
It requested the MOH to report on the 2010 support for research in the January 2011 MOH-Partners meeting and ensure that the ring-fenced amount for research in the budget was progressively increased taking into consideration other budgetary commitments
The memoir called on the MOH to present the report on the referral system to the January 2011 MOH-Partners meeting and requested thatan update on the agreed actions on commodity security be provided at the June 2011 MOH-Partners meeting.
It called for a roundtable to review and update the pharmaceutical sector policy by the end of March 2011 and asked the MOH to develop a concept and road map on the institutionalisation of National Health Accounts by the end of June 2011.
Source: GNA