In 2018, an estimated 6.2 million children and adolescents under the age of 15 years died, mostly from preventable causes. 5.3 million of these deaths occurred in the first five years of life. More than half of these early child deaths are preventable or can be treated with simple affordable interventions including childhood immunizations. Studies have found that, termination of child welfare services has been a major challenge to combating under-five mortality all over Africa, including Ghana. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of Child Welfare Clinic (CWC) termination in the Dungu community, a suburb of Tamale, the northern regional capital. The objectives of the study were to assess mother's knowledge on CWC attendance in the Dungu community, assess the prevalence of early termination of CWC attendance in the Dungu community, to ascertain the reasons for early termination of CWC attendance among mothers/ caregivers in the Dungu community and to find out the effects of child spacing on CWC attendance in the Dungu community. The study found that, termination of child welfare services is prevalent in the dungu community as it is in many parts of Ghana and Africa. Majority of the mothers were found to terminate after two years of patronizing services, when the scheduled immunization is completed. Several reasons were attributed to the termination of service attendance, some which include; attitude of service providers, few working days of CWC facilities, spacing of children and financial challenges (which was found to be the major reason for termination). Some recommendations proposed by the study includes; child welfare clinics should be operational on each working day of the week in the Dungu community, service providers should intensify public education on child welfare services in the Dungu community as well as during child welfare services. Immunizations should be spaced out to cover the entire five years if possible, this will encourage the mothers to patronize the service till the mandated five years as most of the mothers tend to terminate after the immunization schedule is completed.

Background. Periodic medical checkup is an essential component of preventive medicine and health promotion. Assessing the knowledge, perception and practice of health care professional on routine medical checkup set the tone for the general public. Method. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 health care personnel, nurses, doctors and medical laboratory scientist, using a convenience sampling method, to assess their practice of periodic medical checkup. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaire, with questions classified under demographics, knowledge, perception and practice. Data processing was carried out using Microsoft excel. Data was checked, cleaned and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science, SPSS version 21. Results. The study found a high prevalence of knowledge among the participants. There was, at least, above 90% on all questionnaire items assessing knowledge. Similarly, participants exhibited a positive perception towards medical checkups. 98.7% said medical checkups are important whilst 99.0% said they would encourage the practice of periodic medical checkup. Prevalence of periodic medical checkup was 91.0%. Most of the participants recommended medical checkups be covered by health insurance whilst health facilities should also ensure an annual examination of its staffs. Conclusion. There is a high prevalence of medical checkup among health care personnel at the teaching hospital under study, positive attitude as well as a high level of knowledge regarding the practice.

Introduction. Discharge against medical advice is a global phenomenon where patients voluntarily terminate their consent to medical care before the medical team declares them fit for discharge. The phenomenon adversely affects the delivery of quality health care. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted at a Ghanaian teaching hospital involving patients who were admitted to the emergency settings within a 2 years period. Data were retrieved from the hospital records and patients discharged against medical advice were identified and studied. Data were cleaned and coded with Excel application and analyzed with SPSS version 23. Results. A total of 8,565 admissions were made into the ward within the period under review with 210 patients been discharged against medical advice. The prevalence rate was 2.5% with high prevalence seen in male and younger populations. Fractures and head injuries were the commonest conditions for which patients requested to be discharged against medical advice, whilst financial constrains and preference for herbal treatment were the major factors for which patients requested to be discharged against medical advice. Conclusion. Discharge against medical advice exists and negatively affects the delivery of quality health care in the Ghanaian health sector. Education especially towards at-risk groups such as the younger populations and patients with fractures as well as effective communication between medical team and patients and their families are some proposed measures to reducing the prevalence and negative impacts associated with discharges against medical advice.

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Introduction: Periodic medical checkup is an essential component of preventive medicine and health promotion. Assessing the knowledge, perception and practice of health care professional on routine medical checkup set the tone for the general public. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 health care personnel, nurses, doctors and medical laboratory scientist, using a convenience sampling method, to assess their practice of periodic medical checkup. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaire, with questions classified under demographics, knowledge, perception and practice. Data processing was carried out using Microsoft excel. Data was checked, cleaned and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science, SPSS version 21. Results: The study found a high prevalence of knowledge among the participants. There was, at least, above 90% on all questionnaire items assessing knowledge. Similarly, participants exhibited a positive perception towards medical checkups. 98.7% said medical checkups are important whilst 99.0% said they would encourage the practice of periodic medical checkup. Prevalence of periodic medical checkup was 91.0%. Most of the participants recommended medical checkups be covered by health insurance whilst health facilities should also ensure an annual examination of its staffs. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of medical checkup among health care personnel at the teaching hospital under study, positive attitude as well as a high level of knowledge regarding the practice.