Busongo community get Nurses quarters. (Thursday, February 9, 2012 )

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Busongo The Upper East Regional Health Directorate with support from the Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health under its Mobile Technology for Community Health (MoTeCH) project has constructed a three bedroom nurses quarters for the Busongo Community in the Kassena-Nankana West district. The facility, worth GH c 35,000 will ease the accommodation challenges for Community Health Officers in the Busongo community and enhance the access to health services to the people of Busongo and its neighbouring communities. In a ceremony to officially commission the clinic, the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. John Koku Awoonor William expressed gratitude to the Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health for its partnership stressing that it will go a long way to deliver good health for the entirety of the population in the community. He however renewed an appeal to the District Assembly to honour its promise of adding a pavilion to the newly constructed accommodation facility to serve as a treatment facility since the existing structure is dilapidated and can no more serve that purpose. Dr. Awoonor-Williams also commended Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health who through its Mobile Technology for Community Health (MoTeCH) project which seeks to deploys mobile phone technology to enhance access to antenatal and neonatal care in rural communities provided a grant of over $ 200,000 of equipment for all Community-based Health Planning and Services centers (CHPS) facilities in both Kassena-Nankana East and West Districts. The support, he said has significantly strengthened the entire health system in the two districts and provided a source of motivation for the nurses. The Chief of Sirigu, Naba Akware Anyoka expressed appreciation to the Regional Director of Health Services and his staff for the commitment, dedication and dynamism that had brought about drastic improvement in the health sector in his community and the region as a whole. The facility he said had come at the right time to solve the inadequate accommodation problem for the nurses at the Busongo/Nyagolingo CHPS centre. He observed that in order to reach the Millennium Development Goals, it is important that health care becomes more accessible to the people especially pregnant women stressing that it is not uncommon to see many pregnant women walk long distances to the few health facilities in Sirigu to access antenatal and postnatal care. The Chief appealed to the Regional Director of Health Services for assistance to help upgrade at least three weighing centres to Community Health Compounds as well as expand the Busongo/Nyagolingo CHPS centre into a Health Centre to increase maternal and Child health care in the community. He also bemoaned the absence of accessible road network linking all the health facilities in Sirigu and appealed to the District Assembly to help address the problem. The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo who was present at the commissioning said ggovernment has proposed a number of projects such as water, extension of electricity, opening up of the road network and assured the people of Sirigu and its neighbouring communities that their immediate needs will be taken care of. He pointed out to the construction of five new projects at the Sirigu Senior High School as well as the construction of the road network from Kandigah Junction to Sirigu and beyond to buttress government efforts at addressing the challenges of the area and promised that more will be done. The District Chief Executive for Kassena-Nankana West, Mr. Thomas Addah Dalu said the assembly last year provided financial support to ten community Health Trainees and two medical students at the University for Development Studies and the University of Cape Coast with the view that these medical students will return to work in teh district for a number of years after their study. -End-