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The Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Joseph Whittal, has urged health professionals to put a stop to strikes to save lives in the country. Such actions, he said, had serious implications for ordinary Ghanaians who were left unattended to in hospital wards, leading to deaths. Appeal to health professionals Mr Whittal was speaking at the graduation ceremony of final year students of the Tamale Nurses and Midwifery Training School. The five-month training on basic human rights was organised to equip the health professionals with the necessary knowledge and understanding of human rights concepts and their bearing on the health profession. The training programme was also to provide them with skills to improve on service delivery as health professionals and also reduce the incidence of human rights abuses in the health sector. Mr Whittal said services rendered by health professionals had at times been accompanied by complaints from sections of the public. He added that the course, which was being conducted in all 10 nursing training colleges in the country, was the commission's effort to inculcate respect for human rights and values in nurses who dealt directly with patients on a daily basis. He stated that in compliance with the constitutional directive to all public officers and others to respect human rights and freedoms, the commission would also engage the Nurses and Midwifery Council, the Medical and Dental Council, the Pharmaceutical Council and other professional bodies in the health sector and also come out with proposals and concept papers on human rights to be included in the curricula of their training institutions. The Northern Regional Director of CHRAJ, Mr Stephen Azantilow, said a course in human rights was started in November last year for final-year students in the Tamale Nurses and Midwifery Training School. He was hopeful that the course would help put an end to the abuse of the rights of patients, which includes disrespect for their privacy, refusal to give treatment, non-explanation of the cost of medication, personal safety, inaccessibility to medical records and wrongful health diagnoses based on one�s background. Mr Azantilow said Ghana had very skilled nurses and midwives so they must promote and protect the rights and freedoms of patients, especially vulnerable groups such as women, children and people living with HIV and AIDS.