The Northern Regional Minister Mr Abdallah Abubakari has urged various community members to take keen interest in the health activities in their communities. He also charged them to participate actively and to support workers in the health field.
According to the minister, the northern region of Ghana covers a land size of about one third the size of the entire country which poses a great challenges to health authorities in rendering adequate and effective care to the people in the midst of other challenges, especially in health financing.
This, he said, therefore makes the Community Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) very essential for the region. The call was made on his behalf by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Savelugu Municipality, Mr Abdulai Alhassan Red, at the launch of the dissemination of CHPS policy in the Brong Ahafo and northern regions in Tamale.
CHPS is a national mechanism to deliver essential community based health services involving planning and service delivery with communities and in general bring health services close to communities. Its primary focus is communities in deprived sub districts.
The strategy has the goal of reaching every community with a basic package of essential health services towards accelerating the attainment of universal health coverage and bridging the access inequity gaps in the provision of health care to the people by the year 2020.
The strategy has the specific objectives of improving equity in access to basic health services, improving efficiency and responsiveness to client needs and developing effective inter-sectoral collaboration.
The various health indicators in the region, Mr Red says, show very negative impression of the quality of life of the people with regards to health. The region has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, low family planning uptake resulting in larger family sizes that compounds the issues of poverty that is so persistent in the region, he added.
The MCE further revealed that the region has serious food insecurity issues and no wonder it adversely affects the nutrition of the people, especially children, resulting in the region leading the chart in terms of stunting in the country.
He said the anticipated improvement in the quality indicators through this project cannot be achieved unless the people are inwardly motivated to work and to deliver, hence health workers must resolve to change their attitudes if we want to move forward
The Northern Regional director of Health, Dr Jacob Mahama, on his part appealed to individuals in the region to support the dissemination of CHPS to improve the status of health in the region.
By; Lilian D Walter
