Northern Regional Profile
The recent creation of six new regions led to the creation of two new regions out of the old Northern region. The current Northern region is made up of 16 Districts out of the former 29 districts. Tamale serves as the regional capital of the Northern region and constitutes about fourteen (14%) of the regional population.
The Northern Region has a total land area of about 25,459 sq. km. It is located between latitude 8 30" and 10 30" N and lies within in the savannah belt of Ghana. It has Togo to the East as its international neighbor. Further south, the region shares boundaries with Savannah Region, and to the north it shares borders with North East Region. It also shares boundaries with Oti region to the South-East. It is divided into sixteen (16) political/administrative districts headed by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives. The districts are further subdivided into 84 health sub-districts and 430 electoral areas.
The Northern Region is much drier than southern areas of Ghana, due to its proximity to the Sahel, and the Sahara. The vegetation consists predominantly of grassland and savanna vegetation with clusters of drought-resistant trees such as baobabs or acacias, shea trees and neem trees. The region is one of the regions in the northern belt of Ghana with the shortest period of rains.The rains usually start from May to September each year and sometimes extend up to early November. The region has an average annual rainfall of 750 to 1050 mm(30 to 40 inches).The dry Harmattan wind from the Sahara desert blows frequently between December and the beginning of February.The temperatures can vary between 14 °C(59 °F) at night and 40 °C(104 °F) during the day.
The population is characteristically distributed in small settlements with populations of 200 - 500 people. There are over 2,000 settlements in the Region, out of which 54.4% have population less than 200 people. The distances between settlements are far apart. This peculiar pattern of distribution of population in the region has adverse implication for service delivery, as sub-district health teams (SDHTs) going on out-reach services have to travel long distances only to reach a small proportion of their target
Our Mandate
The Regional Health Directorates (RHD) in general oversees and coordinates the provision of health services and implementation of health policies within its geographical area organized into districts and sub-district entities. Its mandate is to provide and prudently manage comprehensive and accessible health service with special emphasis on primary health care at regional, district and sub-district levels in accordance with approved national policies. The RHD also works with headquarters, its partners, and other stakeholders to increase access to health services, through provision of health infrastructure, human resources, logistics/health commodities, public health and clinical care interventions.
Key Responsibilities
Generally, the region implements and monitors health Sector policies, ensures effective coordination of activities, judicious management of health resources (human, logistics, equipment and infrastructure) and provides guidance and technical support to the lower levels. More specifically the region engages in the following:
Ensuring access to health services at the district, sub-district and community levels by providing health services or contracting out service provision to other recognized health care providers in the region.
Undertaking effective management and administration of the health resources within the region
Promoting healthy lifestyles and good health habits among the public through effective and targeted health education
Developing appropriate strategies and setting technical guidelines to achieve national policy goals/objectives
Implementing and monitoring health policies, strategic plans, protocols, standards and guidelines set up by national in the region
Planning and delivery of clinical interventions
Planning and management of public health programmes in the region
Establishing effective mechanism for disease surveillance, prevention and control in the region
Strengthening public health action to reduce impact of emergencies and disasters on health in the region
Supportive supervision, monitoring and evaluation of programme implementation
Human resource management (including staff welfare)
Transport, equipment and estates management
Data collection, analysis, reporting and feedback
Collaboration with key stakeholders in health (NGOs, Community leaders, Decentralized departments, CBOs, etc.)
Contact Us
Get in touch with the Northern Regional Health Directorate
Phone
No phone number provided
rdhs.nr@ghs.gov.gh
Address
Northern Regional Health Directorate
Ghana Health Service, Ghana