Fifty (50) Community Health volunteers of the Ghana Health Service in Central Gonja district have been trained to help improve the health care delivery in the area.
The volunteers drawn from ten communities in the central Gonja were tasked to intensify their effort at educating the rural folks on the need to live healthier lives.
They will also educate the rural people on basic proper health practices in their various communities. The training according to organizers is to help prevent the vulnerable from preventable diseases.
The vulnerable including pregnant women, the aged and children will also be assisted to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme in Western Corridor of the Gonja Land.
The volunteers were taken through their roles and responsibilities of Community Health Committees (CHC’s) on health care delivery in the rural communities.
The volunteer were also taken through their role and responsibilities of NHIS Committees on NHIS education and the need to increase patronage of the vulnerable groups. The Kaechito Development Center is a local NGO based in the Central Gonja together with two other local NGOs is implementing a two-year project in five Districts of the Western Corridor of Northern Region.
The project is aimed at addressing the current existing irregularities, challenges and constraints that hinder increased effectiveness of Community Health Committees (CHCs) in supporting and promoting active participation of community members in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and annual sessions of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPIs) through the provision of adequate user-friendly information on NHIS and EPIs.
The three local based NGOs are to reactivate and strengthen the Community Health Committees and the DHMTs in health care service delivery systems, as well as stimulate the establishment of District-level Coalitions of CHCs and DHMTs, as well as capacity building of relevant stakeholders in the health sector to demand and respond to increased transparency, accountability and responsiveness of Key Actors in the implementation of health sector policies and program at community and District levels, in the western corridor of Northern Region.
Giving the over view of the project, Mr Shaibu Joseph Mumuni, the programs Coordinator of Kaechito Community Development Center explained that the project would stimulate and support, by means of innovative approaches in capacity building, the establishment of Coalitions of Community Health Committees (CCHCs) at Area Council and District levels, to reinforce community participation in decision-making, resource allocation and civic oversight of the health sector at community and District levels.
The two years STAR Ghana sponsored project will also promote and ensure actual realization of increased uptake and absorption of rural and informal sector populations into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as one of the tangible results of the proposed project.
The project, the coordinator said, will address and cover two areas of interventions suggested by STAR Ghana for grant making.
He mentioned Decentralized health management: Reactivating and strengthening Community Health Committees; developing local civic coalitions to reinforce community participation in decision-making, resource allocation and civic oversight of the health sector at the local levels; implementing community scorecards and citizens report cards to assess health sector performance among others.
All the five Districts of the Western Corridor of Northern Region according to Mr Shaibu have been classified and declared by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) as ‘deprived districts’, and therefore such Districts require special focus, higher financial and human resources, and intervention in order to realize accelerated development before it can measure up to other parts of Ghana.
The National Health Insurance Manger of the Central District, Braima Abdul-Razak lauded the NGO’s intervention saying it will help increase the number of NHIS beneficiaries in the Central Gonja district.
According to him even though, the level of awareness among the public about the NHIS is high, there is still the need to educate stakeholders on the operations of the scheme. He therefore called on civil society organizations to assist in the sensitization of communities on the operations of the scheme.
The use of communication networks such as community radios, FM stations, TV stations and some religious and social gatherings could be strengthened to increase stakeholder awareness on the operations of the scheme, he observed. Political leaders especially, Members of parliament should make NHIS education part of his interactions with his constituents, Mr Abdul-Razak added.
He said the NHIS CHC’s hitherto were only receiving commissions for registering new members and that the enrollment of the vulnerable was very low and was optimistic that the CHC’s will help address their health care needs. He entreated participants to implement the knowledge acquired to the benefit of the rural people especially the vulnerable.
The Focus Districts for the project are namely: Central Gonja District, West Gonja District, North Gonja District, Bole District, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District.
The project would ensure the bridging of policy formulation and programs implementation in the health sector at community and district levels through the application of five strategies in execution of policies and programs:
The project would support GHS, NHIS, Ministry of Health, and DAs to ensure that implementation of policies and programs and level of effectiveness and impact are tailored to the respective capacities and capabilities of District Directorates of GHS and NHIS to implement and manage their programs within the context and scope of realities of prevailing constraints, challenges and opportunities.
The project would apply the practice of viable geometry of development to ensure the aligning policies and programs to the prevailing socio-cultural and socio-religious conditions and the needs of vulnerable persons and rural community in the five target districts.
