The ultra-modern health facility was funded by the her initiative, Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation and its partners.

In addition, the Foundation organized a free health screening exercise and catered for the needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS at the official inauguration ceremony.

Mrs. Rebecca Akufo whose major concern is the provision of quality healthcare for the destitute in society, reiterated the determination of her Foundation and its partners to reduce malaria and the infant mortality ratio across Ghana at the ceremony.

“Today we the Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation team and partners are fulfilling our main objective of reducing malaria and malnutrition in vulnerable population through improving access to preventive care and effective services across Ghana.”

She explained the HIV/AIDS screening exercise saying, “I am also equally pleased to bring HIV and health screening exercise services to your community today as part of actions to support Ghana’s chapter of the Organization of African Ladies against AIDS. As First Ladies of Africa we are committed to the elimination of HIV with emphasis on the prevention of mother to child transmission.”

“So far my office has been working beautifully with the Ghana AIDS Commission to achieve this goal. Our hope is that in a few years there would be zero transmission of HIV from mother to child,” she stated.

She underscored the need for Ghanaians, particularly the youth, to periodically get tested for HIV and receive counselling.

“Getting screened is the first step to avoid potential health risk in future. Please encourage friends, family and your community to receive counseling, know their HIV status and change their behaviour that put us all at risk of a condition that can be avoided.”

“I wish to encourage our youth to adopt healthy behaviours. You are the future of this nation. It is therefore imperative for the future of Ghana that you remain healthy by making the right choices.”

The First Lady added that she would continue to support national efforts to ensure a healthy and productive country.

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed commended the First Lady for her humanitarian services.

“Health delivery services are very critical especially in the northern region and the construction of the CHPS compound demonstrates the First Lady’s mother for all character.”

According to him, the Northern Region lacked adequate health facilities and pleaded with the First Lady for more of such projects.

He assured the First Lady that the Nyanshegu CHPS compound would serve the purpose of its establishment.

“The regional administration will liaise with the assembly to ensure that the facility is put to good use and I will also admonish the various assemblies to emulate this kind gesture by using their internal resources to construct similar facilities in their respective areas.”

Salifu Saeed bemoaned the increasing ratio of maternal mortality in the area and called for a multifaceted approach to solve the problem.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post First Lady inaugurates CHPS compound at Nyanshegu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This was after the community members through their chief, Togbe Kotoku XI, petitioned the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) alleging that the Assembly had misappropriated monies donated to the community for refurbishment of the CHPS compound.

In the petition, the Chief alleged that  the Ho Municipal Assembly received an amount of GHc5,000 from GOIL Ghana Limited on their behalf in response to an appeal to benevolent organisations to help the community stock the health facility with medical equipment because it lacked such facilities when it was handed over to them.

Togbe Kotoku said although their appeal for support received positive feedback from well-wishers, including Amenyo Foundation, that of GOIL which was donated through the Assembly in August 2016, has since not reached the community.

Togbe Kotoku said after several failed attempts to redeem the cheque from the Assembly for the intended purpose proved futile, the traditional authority was compelled to resort to EOCO to investigate the whereabouts of the money.

“In 2016, we were notified that our appeal has yielded GHc5000, but the process of accessing it became a problem. I detailed the Assembly member to follow up and go to the Assembly on several occasions; and it is like our attempts were futile.”

Interestingly, Togbe told Citi News in interview that the Municipal Assembly immediately released the cheque; “on the third day the petition was sent” although EOCO was yet to commence investigations into the matter.

He said although the money has been released, he would still like the investigative body to find out why the Asembly delayed before releasing the said amount.

“When we petitioned EOCO, we sent a copy to the Assembly on Friday, and on Monday the Assembly released the cheque; a panic reaction which still beats our imagination because we needed the money. We took it but then we want EOCO to get to the bottom of the issue to investigate so that the truth would come out,” he added in the interview.

Precious Deletsa, a midwife at the facility who was outwardly excited at the time the news team visited the facility said the release of the money would help them procure essential items the facility lacked.

Abandoned health facilities

Citi FM has in the last few weeks turned the heat on government for abandoning some already completed health facilities in the country.

Some of them including the Bank of Ghana hospital as well as the University of Ghana Medical Centre although largely completed are yet to be made operational.

Others are CHPS compounds int various parts of the country which have also not been put to use due to lack of medical facilities.

Over 5 CHPS compound abandoned for lack of electricity

The Member of Parliament for the area, Rockson Dafeamekpor in a recent Citi News interview complained that over five CHPS compounds in his constituency have not been operational because they lacked social amenities such as water and electricity.

“Within the past six years, we constructed about 7 of them. The difficulty is that, when these compounds are completed you need to extend electricity and water, but the cost of extending these utility services are not factored in the actual construction, and that is the challenge.”

“Now we are being levied a huge cost to extend electricity and water, and because of the inadequacy of funding from the Assembly, this is the challenge for the Assembly and we are making efforts to operationalize the facility at both Kpeve and Pekiwudome,” the MP added when he spoke on the Citi Breakfast Show on January 26, 2018.

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By: King Norbert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, a major reason for the sad state of affairs, was the lack of accommodation for staff.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Gg6DifnFkr30OyUe5d3z5jIkmhNjz0vD”]Mr. Segbefia said for most of the projects undertaken, no budgetary allocation was made for the construction of accommodation facilities.

He explained further that, the government had thus decided to find alternative sources of funding to begin the construction of accommodation facilities.

He noted that, while some were completed and had been put to use, others were not operationalized because the previous government did not find money to set up accommodation facilities.

“We take responsibility for it… There was no infrastructure there in the first place so what we did when we realized that was to begin to collate all the CHPS compounds in the country that had not got accommodation or haven’t got equipment because the equipment is also another thing,” he said.

“There are a number of them that are dysfunctional because there were those that actually had accommodation. You have the accommodation on top and the clinic below…Once the accommodation is there, most of the staffing issues will be resolved because you can send the community health nurses there.”

Segbefia noted that, the previous government developed specific guidelines for the construction of CHPS compounds to prevent them from being abandoned.

UG was supposed to manage Medical Centre – Segbefia

On the UG Medical Centre, Alex Segbefia stated that, the University of Ghana had from the onset, been tasked to handle the management of the $217m Medical Centre.

According to him, the second phase of the project, which was expected to cost about 48 million dollars would be paid for by the University after an agreement was reached for the institution to guarantee the loan.

This, he said, meant that the University would be responsible for the payment of the loan for that phase of the project, and handle the running costs of the hospital after five years.

Abandoned projects

Citi News has in the last few weeks put the spotlight on abandoned and non-functional health projects and facilities in the country.

More than 16 projects have been found not to be in use for various reasons including lack of health personnel.

The Volo health facility in the North Tongu district of the Volta Region had been non-functional since the day it was colourfully commissioned.

The Ofankor health facility is also part of numerous facilities which has been completed, but remains unused.

CHPS compounds at Tetegu and Teshie are also yet to be put to use.

Other ones that have been reported by Citi FM are the $217 million University of Ghana Medical Centre and the Bank of  Ghana Hospital.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We take some responsibility for non-functional CHPS compounds – Segbefia appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Teshie camp 2 facility was completed in 2016, however, it has not been put to use by the Assembly, leaving residents with no option than to seek medical attention at alternative facilities.

Citi News gatherered that the facility, worth GH¢320,000, had been abandoned due to delay in the procurement of medical equipment for the use of health professionals.

Although budget had been drawn for the procurement of the equipment some six months ago, funds seem not to have been raised to purchase them.

However, the Assembly found funds from other sources to construct the new facility which is almost complete.

See photos of the new facility below:

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By: Anas Seidu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nungua: Completed Teshie CHPS compound abandoned; new one constructed nearby appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The facility has been left at the mercy of the weather, and is now occupied by squatters.

The CHPS project formed part of a national strategy by the then Mahama administration to deliver essential community-based health services including health planning and service delivery within communities, with a primary focus on deprived areas.

Appointees under the Mahama administration supposedly devoted 10 percent of their salaries towards the construction of some CHPS compounds across the country.

But since the inauguration of the new government, nothing has been done about the Tetegu CHPS compound and many others scattered across the country.

GHc320,000 Teshie CHPS compound abandoned since 2016

Residents of Teshie Camp Two in the Greater Accra Region, are also yet to benefit from a Community-Based Health Planning and Services, otherwise referred to as CHPS Compound built for the community about a year and a half ago.

The GHc320, 000 facility remains unused after it was inaugurated in 2016.

Abandoned completed health projects

Citi News has in the last few days exposed a number of health projects undertaken by successive governments which cost the taxpayer several millions of dollars, but have been abandoned.

The major ones that have come up for mention are the $217 million University of Ghana Medical Centre, the Bank of  Ghana Hospital, the solar-powered medical centre at the Volo Digital Village in the Volta Region, as well as the GHc320,000 CHPS compound at Teshie which are all not in use.

With the University of Ghana Medical Centre, although the first phase has been completed, there is a tussle between the University of Ghana and the Health Ministry, as to who to manage the facility, with government saying it needs an additional $6 million to make it operational.

With regards to the Bank of Ghana Hospital, the Board is yet to take a decision on what module of management to adopt, although the facility was built in three years and largely completed in 2017.

In the case of the Volo Medical Centre, health professionals are unwilling to work there due to the lack of staff accommodation as well as the location of the facility.

Find below a report from the ground

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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Forgotten’ CHPS compound at Tetegu now home to squatters [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Robert Cudjoe said there the Akufo-Addo administration rather has plans to expand the project.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Nf8THvZWg42H6A4icYxXfHwEU7cBmUQB”]“There are plans in place to ensure that we scale up the project by building several more in addition to what has already been built, and for those that have just been started, we’ll just complete them,” he stated.

Because the CHPS project is in line with the goal to accelerate the attainment of universal health coverage, Mr. Cudjoe assured that “there’s no way a government will come into power and abandon this concept which, worldwide, has been hailed as one of the best measures to ensure access to health care.”

The CHPS project formed part of a national strategy to deliver essential community-based health services involving health planning and service delivery within communities nationwide, with a primary focus on communities in deprived sub-districts.

Appointees under the Mahama administration were devoting 10 percent of their salaries to see the project come to fruition and recent questions over the utilisation of this money.

As of the end of 2016, GHc 2,190,718.30 had been deducted from the salaries of appointees at the Mahama Administrations and paid to contractors, according to a former Deputy Minister of Information, Felix Kwakye Ofosu.

Issues at ministry

But the continued implementation of the programme thus far is being held back by some complaints at the Health Ministry, Mr. Cudjoe explained.

“We have these National Health Insurance claims and there are other debts that the new government came to meet which are being handled on a monthly basis, where some monies are being paid. So going forward, we will get to the point where you will see a lot of CHPS compounds being built.”

“We have several CHPS compounds dotted all over Ghana so if you have noticed somebody occupying an uncompleted CHPS compound, I don’t think that should be used as a yard stick to generalises the entire policy saying the current government has abandoned it.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NPP gov’t hasn’t abandoned CHPS project – Health Ministry appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The project is to bring major relief to the people, especially pregnant women in Pusuga and other surrounding communities.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the District Chief Executive for Nanumba north district assembly,  Abdulai Yaqoub, urged residents in the community to own the facility by taking good care of it and also build a healthy relationship with the health workers that will be sent to work in the facility.

He further urged the residents to patronise the facility and not abandon it by still walking the long distance to Bimbilla for health care.

The chief of Pusuga, Mba Yahari, conveyed the community’s gratitude to the Nanumba North District assembly for providing them with the facility and pledged that the facility will be put to good use.

Some residents told Citi News that the facility has come at the right time. “…in the past we used to travel all the way to Bimbilla to access healthcare but now this will bring a lot of relief to us, especially our pregnant women who hitherto, had to walk on foot under the scorching sun to Bimbilla spend the whole day just to attend antenatal check-ups.”

“But now a huge relief has come and we are happy that our women can now attend antenatal right here in the community. Sicknesses such as malaria and other minor ones could be treated here and we will not necessarily have to walk to Bimbilla unless it becomes necessary.”

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By: Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nanumba North: Pusuga gets CHPS compound appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is part of the company’s corporate social responsibility roll out in 2017 and its commitment to improve the quality of health services in our health facilities.

A survey conducted by Inesfly Africa revealed that our CHPS compounds were not only in deplorable states, they were also engulfed by insect-pests, ironically infesting more people with vector transmitted diseases instead of being the safe havens they’re supposed to be. The theme for the durbar, dubbed “Health Improvement Through Insect and Vector Control”,therefore,reflected the growing need for our health institutions to adopt a holistic approach in their quest to offer true health services to the people.

Speaking on the theme, the CEO of Inesfly Africa Limited, Michael Sjodin, noted the seriousness of the situation and the need for all relevant stakeholders to collaborate in order to fight the infestation of insect-vectors in our health facilities.

“Inesfly Africa Limited, as an entity committed to ensuring that we all have pest-free lives, understands the urgency of the situation at hand, the enormity of the task ahead, and the need for partnership with relevant stakeholders to nib the situation in the bud. In our own little way, we’re setting the pace by treating ten Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds in deprived communities in ten districts of the Greater Accra region. We hope this move will draw the attention of all involved to fight collectively against insect-pests”, he remarked.

The Greater Accra Regional Director of Health, Dr. Linda Van Otoo, commended Inesfly Africa for the generous initiative, noting that it was a timely intervention.

“We as health personnel need to ensure that our clients are safe and do not risk picking one infection in the quest to treat another”, she said.

Health operators at the CHPS compounds expressed their gratitude and excitement at the initiative by Inesfly Africa.

“I’m happy that finally we have a lasting solution to the problem of insect-pests here in this compound. Our clients won’t worry and complain again, and we too will be at rest to do our work”, Salma Norga, a community health nurse at the Otsirikomfo CHPS compound said.

Some of the ten CHPS Compounds to benefit from this initiative include Adedetsekope in Ada East, Madavunu in Ada West, Anyaa in Ga Central, Otsrikomfo in Ga West. The others are Asuom Osofo Lamptey in Ga South, Appolonia in Kpone Katamanso, Nyigbenya in Ningo Prampram, Natrigu in Shai and Apenkwa in the Accra Metro.

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Source: Inesfly Africa

The post Inesfly partners Health Service to refurbish CHPS compounds appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The cocoa farming community has been deprived of these basic social amenities for over two decades.

In an interview with Citi News, Mr Bright Awuku ,the unit committee chairman for Adakwah electoral area, said successive governments have failed them, and now the community are in critical need of a clinic.

“We need a lot of things here in Adakwah, we don’t have a hospital or any form of clinic here so we go round the village to search for car to transport pregnant women and the sick to Suhum for treatment, and I must say that it is not easy at all because the road from Adakwah to Suhum too is not motorable at all. During the rainy seasons, movement to and fro comes to a halt since the steep part becomes very slippery.”

He further added that, they have similar challenges in the area of education, “we have an uncompleted building where our kids go to school, they sit in the room and are left to the mercies of scorching sun, rain and reptiles, since the building has not been roofed, classes come to an abrupt end whenever it rains”

The traditional leader of Adakwah, Odikro Baffour Ahwere Akrofi, was however full of praise for the Member of Parliament of Suhum Constituency, Hon Fredrick Opare Ansah, who recently honored a campaign promise to provide them with a mechanized borehole to solve their water problem.

He said “we have a lot of needs here from our poor roads, clinic, school, shelter for our market women and even water, until the MP came to construct this borehole for us and we are very grateful to him for keeping to his promise. We go as far into the river densu to fetch water for daily use, and it is very worrisome so we are pleading to the new president to turn his attention to us and come to our aid.”

The Assembly member for the area, Hon. Gilbert Asare Agyei, who poured out his frustration said they face many challenges, and pleaded with the government to come to their aid as they are also citizens of this country.

“Our funeral grounds has been destroyed by storm, we don’t have any clinic or CHPS compound, take a look at the state of our primary classroom, full of dust and potholes, both teachers and school kids are always looking dirty, our nursery school is that uncompleted building over there we want the government to stop politicizing issues and come to our aid because we are also Ghanaians.”

At the time Citi News visited the school, the school authorities had closed, and all efforts to reach the headmistress of the Methodist school proved futile.

However, some primary pupils who were still playing on the school’s premises disclosed that they feel uncomfortable about the current state of their classrooms, a situation that hampers teaching and learning.

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Suhum Adakwah residents cry for CHPS compound, school appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.