Health Ministry must explain

Regulatory systems are put in place to guide individuals, practices or organisations to bring them into conformity with rules.

In its desire to ensure quality service delivery, Ghana has a number of regulations to police various sectors of the economy.

The health sector, like all other sectors, has various regulators to ensure effective and efficient performance of tasks.

The regulators perform duties such as ensuring that the public is protected from health risks.

They also ensure compliance with safe health delivery for all citizens, monitor practitioners and give information about industry changes and practices.

In view of the critical roles that regulations play in all human endeavours, their oversight is often mandatory.

The provision and monitoring of public and private healthcare services in the country are regulated by the Health Institutions Facilities Act (829), which mandates the Health and Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) to, among other duties, license public and private healthcare service providers and monitor them to ensure compliance. Healthcare providers are also required by the act to register with HeFRA.

This is the law and the only thing expected of healthcare providers is to register their outfits, while HeFRA regulates their activities — simple and short!

Based on the foregoing, the Daily Graphic is disappointed at the announcement by HeFRA that out of the estimated 32,000 health facilities in the country, less than 2,000, representing less than seven per cent, are registered with the regulatory body.

This is, indeed, worrying, as we wonder about the number of facilities that are spreading diseases and making the disease burden of the country worse. How can we know that the people manning various stages of health delivery in these unregistered facilities are qualified for what they do?

It is not only strange but also upsetting because this goes to buttress the axiom that as a country, we are very good at enacting laws but are found wanting when it comes to implementation and enforcement.

This announcement is coming on the heels of recent outbreaks of strange and dangerous diseases such as the H1N1 strain, meningitis and, just recently, Lassa fever, all of which have claimed precious lives.

Can we tell if people have not lost their lives to other diseases in these unregistered health facilities?

We are of the view that the spotlight should be thrown on HeFRA itself as to why it has reneged on its responsibility to regulate these health facilities, while it has the law on its side, only to turn round to complain.

We admonish the Ministry of Health, as the organisation under whose supervision HeFRA works, to move in immediately and ensure that the agency performs its duties without delay.

We further think HeFRA and the Ministry of Health owe the good people of Ghana an explanation for their failure to carry out their duties.

If it is the usual lackadaisical attitude of officials that has led to this, then the supervisors must crack the whip and ensure that such duties are assigned to people who are efficient, have the welfare of the citizens of the country at heart and are hungry for results.

We may choose to be passive with some issues but we cannot afford to toy with the health of a whole nation.