GHS advised to periodically train health professionals

Deputy Director of the University of Cape Coast Health Services, Dr. James Prah, has called on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to periodically build the capacity of personnel in the public health sector.

This, he believes will equip the personnel with the requisite skills they need to help fight any infectious disease the country records.

His call comes at the back of the recommendation by the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS) for government to take advantage of the perceived controlled state of the Marburg virus disease.

According to GHS, Ghana currently has no active case of the Marburg Virus Disease, a month after recording the first case of the disease on July 4, 2022, after heightened surveillance for the virus.

The recommendation, GAMLS said, is to help strategically improve the capacity of some COVID-19 testing laboratories to also tackle other outbreaks in the country.

The Association believes this will help health personnel to also be apt to promptly test and identify cases and initiate the processes involved in preventing and controlling such infectious diseases.

Speaking ATL FM NEWS, Dr. James Prah said the Ghana Health Service can periodically take personnel in the public health sector through refresher courses to keep them up to beat with any situation the country may face.

“When you talk about the human resources there are very knowledgeable people around, very skilled, well-trained laboratory scientists. All that we need to do is to put in the systems to run. You don’t need to go to sleep. We need to train people periodically for such things,” he said.

While suggesting periodic training on how to deal effectively with infectious diseases for public health professionals, Dr. Prah indicated that the call by the laboratory scientists is in the right direction.