The Eastern Regional Head of the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA), John Asumaning Agyepong, has asked media practitioners to cross-check their facts on health-related issues before reporting for public consumption.
Such issues, he also indicated, should cover the activities of the health facilities in the region.
He explained that one-sided stories were often not the best since they created confusion and inaccuracy.
Views before publication
According to Mr Agyepong, all the actors on a particular issue must be contacted for their views before publication.
He made the call when the executives of the Eastern Regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) paid a courtesy call on him at his Koforidua office.
The new executives were in his office to introduce themselves and collaborate effectively with HeFRA on issues relating to health delivery in the region for the benefit of the people.
The visit was also to solicit support from HeFRA for capacity-building programmes, especially training of journalists on health issues, to enable them to report accurately on such matters.
Mr Agyepong stated that HeFRA had been mandated under the Pre-Admission Testing (PAT) One of the Health Institutions and Facilities Act, 2011 (Act 829), to license and monitor facilities for the provision of public and private health services in both the public and private sectors.
Health facilities
He mentioned some of the facilities as medical and dental clinics/hospitals, maternity homes, diagnostic imaging technology clinics, pharmacists and chemical shops, as well as any other healthcare clinic or premises that might be determined by the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.
The regional HeFRA head said that as a regulatory body, they always ensured that the best practices in various health facilities were strictly followed in the interest of patients and the facilities.
Mr Agyepong stated that his organisation had the mandate to license health facilities and at the same time regulate their activities in line with the required standards.
In his response, the Eastern Regional Chairman of the GJA, Stephen Ampem Darko Koranteng, said the visit was to deepen the already cordial relations between the two bodies.
Mr Koranteng, who appreciated the warm reception given to the delegation, said the GJA was ready to highlight any issue concerning HeFRA and health facilities in the region positively.
Regarding the capacity building of media practitioners, the regional GJA chairman appealed to HeFRA for support in the capacity building of journalists to enable them to effectively disseminate the activities of both HeFRA and the health facilities in the region.
