Lawra Hospital launched 90th anniversary The 90th anniversary commemoration of the Lawra Municipal Hospital has been launched with a call on those who have stake in the facility to use the celebration to reflect on what they can do to support it “to become much better than it is today”. The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Amidu Chinnia Issahaku who launched the anniversary which will be climaxed in December, 2018 made the call in Lawra. He said the hospital’s existence over the past 90 years has undoubtedly brought relief to the people of Lawra in particular and the Upper West Region as a whole. GBC’s Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo reports that per the records available, the Hospital was established by the British colonial government in 1928 and it initially started as a centre for the treatment of minor ailments like yaws, trypanosomiasis also know as sleeping sickness as well as other skin diseases which were prevalent at the time. One Dr. Sounders was said to be in charge and led personnel of the hospital on medical outreaches to Jirapa, Nandom and Tumu among others which were then parts of the Lawra District. Mr. Issahaku gave an assurance that the government will continue to help improve infrastructural and equipment needs of health institutions but appealed to stakeholders to complement government’s efforts by offering concrete support to further up the game in health service delivery. The Deputy Regional Minister commended health workers for their sacrifices and urged them to “continue to demonstrate professionalism and commitment to their work.” The Medical Superintendent of Lawra Municipal Hospital, Dr. Justine Dakurah announced that the facility provides services to a catchment population of 64 thousand and serves as the referral point for four Health Centres, 18 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compounds and a Polyclinic but has a couple of challenges. Dr. Dakurah mentioned lack of a modern and well equipped Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a cracked and leaky medical ward, inadequate space at the emergency ward, perennial flooding due to poor drainage system and the absence of a fence wall as some of the key challenges of the hospital. On the absence of the fence wall, he stated that the current barb-wire fence has multiple entry and exit points, saying the situation has exposed the facility to “security risks, blatant disregard for visiting hours and straying of animals into the hospital”. Dr. Dakurah therefore appealed to the government, NGOs, public spirited individuals and organizations to assist the hospital to surmount the challenges. The Lawra Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr. Bernard Angnume Ziem said although, malaria remains the biggest disease burden of the Municipality, it did not record any malaria death in 2017. In respect of maternal health, the Municipality had one thousand, 231 institutional deliveries in 2017 and the hospital contributed 54.3%. Ante-Natal Care was also given to one thousand, 470 pregnant women in 2017 with 22.4% of the expectant mothers being catered for at the hospital. The Paramount Chief of Lawra, Naa Puowele Karbo regretted what he termed “political neglect” of the Hospital by successive governments. Naa Karbo pointed out that “the current infrastructure and logistics deficit of the Lawra Hospital at 90 does not reflect its age and pioneering role in healthcare delivery in the Upper West Region. The chief however commended the current management of the hospital for their proactive efforts to address the infrastructural challenges. A former MP for Lawra, Sampson Abu who chaired the function stressed the necessity for resources to be galvanized to upgrade the Hospital for the benefit of those in the catchment area of the facility. The focus of the anniversary is “90 Years of Quality Health Service Delivery to the People of Lawra and Beyond: Successes, Challenges and the Way Forward”. GBCONLINE ---DECRYPTED---