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Volta region has seen much development in the area of quality healthcare delivery in 2013, particularly in maternal mortality and general health care provision, but lags behind in the area of education, as performances at both the basic and second cycle level are not encouraging. The region has a total of 62 medical doctors at the various hospitals, giving a ratio of one doctor to 35,000 patients. It also has a total of 730 Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) zones across the region of which 333 are functional. The Deputy Director in-charge of Clinical Services, Mr. Robert Adatsi, who made this known at the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC) meeting held in Ho, noted that the health delivery situation had improved drastically, but was quick to state that much more needed to be done in addressing the total health needs of the people. According to Mr. Adatsi, the region recorded much improvement in the human resource base at the health sector in the region, with emphasis on critical staff such as doctors and nurses, a development that made it possible for the region to be on top of health delivery issues. He disclosed that the major health problem confronting authorities in the region was malnutrition among a large number of the people and that the Regional Health Directorate had embarked on training of people to carry out public education on the causes and effects of malnutrition as well as how to prevent it. Another challenge Mr. Adatsi pointed out in the health sector in the region was the shortage of midwives at the various health facilities, which necessitated the establishment of a Midwifery Training College at Kete-Krachi and commended the District Assembly and the Krachi Traditional Council for their contribution that led to the establishment of the institute. Mr. Adatsi noted that the improvement in quality healthcare became visible in the region as a result of the rehabilitation of a number of health centers across the region adding that the HIV/AIDS rate in the region remains at 2 percent. According to him, out of a total number of 37,264 pregnant women who attended health facilities across the region, 628 have the HIV. The Volta Regional Director of Education, Mr. Emmanuel Keteku on the other hand expressed concern over the poor performance of students and pupils at basic and second cycle levels and disclosed that the region scored 39 percent at Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2013, which he indicated was an improvement over the 27.8 percent scored in 2012. Mr. Keteku explained that in the case of the Senior High Schools (SHS) in the region, most of the schools scored between 80, 90 and 100 percent across the region and that the educational authorities were still worried about such performances because the passes could not advance most of the students to any tertiary institutions as they mostly failed in English, Mathematics and science. Touching on the performance at the basic level, the Regional Director stated that the performance at the basic level dropped from 48.7 percent to 42.9 percent in 2010 and went down again to 38.9 percent in 2011 and deteriorated to 27.8 percent in 2012, which showed that within a period of four years, basic level performance had dropped by 22.1 percent at the BECE in the region. Mr. Keteku said the education authorities in the region had adopted supervision checklist in schools to serve as checks and balances among heads and teachers on one hand and teachers and students on the other hand, which he noted would help the various stakeholders to monitor and supervise each other�s work. The Volta Regional Minister, Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo commended the various institutions and departments for their efforts in promoting development in the region. Nii Laryear Afotey Agbo observed that land and chieftaincy disputes continued to retard development of the region and said the curfew imposed on the people of Nkonya and Alavanyo would continue until further notice adding that issues of security in the region had improved tremendously.