NATOR HEALTH PLANNING CENTRE INAUGURATED (PAGE 22)

STORY: Chris Nunoo, Nator

A GH¢5,000 structure to serve as a Community Health Planning and Service (CHPS) centre for the Nator community in the Nadowli West District of the Upper West Region has been inaugurated.
The centre has an accommodation for additional staff, a store and a service delivery room.
This brings the number of CHPS centres in the Nadowli District to 11. In all, there are a total of 25 CHPS centres across the region.
Inaugurating the centre, the Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs Winifred Dy-Yakah, said it would ensure equity in the distribution of health facilities and also make it accessible to people.
She said the completion of the centre underpinned the relations between the members of the community and the health personnel as partners in the delivery of primary health care.
Mrs Dy-Yakah, therefore, commended the District Assembly, the District Health Management Team and the members of the community for ensuring the successful completion of the centre.
The deputy regional minister further entreated health workers to be patient with their clients and exercise utmost caution as they discharged their duties.
“Your attitude as health staff would determine the extent to which the people would be enticed to patronise the facility,” she stressed.
Mrs Dy-Yakah called on the leaders of the area to impress upon the people to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo, advised the people to regularly visit the centre, stressing, “You must not wait till you fall sick before you visit the facility.”
For his part, the Nadowli District Chief Executive, Wing Commander Eric Dakora (retd), commended the development partners such as JICA, SIDSEC and World Vision, Ghana, for their immense support towards the development of the district.
He gave the assurance that the area would soon be connected to the national electricity grid to enhance the daily running of the CHPS centre.
The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli West, Mr Alban Bagbin, stated that one major challenge facing the health sector of the country was maternal and child mortality.
He, therefore, called for an effective collaboration and co-operation amongst all interested parties to address the situation.