The Katanga Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound has come out on top ahead of the Zuarungu Health Centre and three other health facilities in service delivery in the Bolgatanga East District of the Upper East Region.
The other two facilities include Gambibgo Health Centre and the Zuarungu-Moshie Health Centre. This was made known during a performance review meeting organised by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the district. The meeting looked over the progress made and the challenges encountered in the course of service delivery in 2020.
The head of the Katanga Sub-District, Mary Atambugre, told Word News that the achievement chalked up by the Katanga CHPS Compound came despite several challenges with only 8 staff.
She attributed the success to support from the Chief of Katanga, the youth and some women groups from Katanga and surrounding communities like Benkote and Dachio.
She added that the facility performed extremely well in family planning because of a constant interaction with husbands and wives, ante-natal care (ANC) and vaccination against measles and yellow fever. The facility’s interaction sessions with couples normally take place at noon on Sundays and it is during those sessions issues affecting their clients are discussed and addressed.
“There are instances where we record three to four labour cases with our single bed and our women will feel comfortable for us to transfer them to other facilities for delivery just because of the way we do our antenatal care with them,” said the Sub-District’s head.
She appealed to the general public, philanthropists, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to support the Katanga CHPS with some pressing needs to help increase productivity.
She also pleaded with the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bolgatanga East Constituency and former Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, to redeem a promise he once made to provide the facility with a maternity block and its auxiliaries.
Speaking to Word News, the MP disclosed that he had secured Gh¢40,000 through the Social Interventions Fund for the construction of the promised Katanga Maternity Block which is a community self-help project.
A letter sighted by Word News quotes the MP to have said: “Please, find attached hereto a Bank of Ghana cheque numbered 000351 in the amount of forty thousand Ghana cedis (Gh¢40,000). As discussed during our several telephone conversations, I applied for and parliament approved this sum of money for use as my Social Intervention Fund for the 2020 financial year. The amount was approved at my request specifically for use to assist Katanga Community in constructing a maternity ward.”
The letter added: “I have held discussions with the community on their request for assistance. The chief and members of the community have agreed to provide unskilled labour free of charge as part of their contribution to the construction”.
Authorities at the Katanga CHPS Compound say the facility needs two delivery beds, two vaccine refrigerators to help in the storage of various vaccines for the treatment of basic illness, ultra-modern cupboards for keeping files, laptop for data collection as well as Blood Pressure (BP) apparatus, hanging bathroom scale, a printer, three baby cots /beds, three general beds and screens to provide privacy for their clients.
Gaspard Ayuureneeya