Woochan Chang exchanging the fund agreement with Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyirah
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have signed a fund agreement to support the implementation of the community-based health planning and services (CHPS) in Ghana.
The agreement will see KOICA supporting the GHS with $9m over the next five years, beginning this year to improve CHPS in all the 13 districts in the Upper West Region.
The project, titled ‘Project For Improving Community-Based Primary Health Care Through CHPS Strengthening (CHPS+)’, will be implemented by the GHS.
The CHPS+ project focuses on enhancing community engagement, improving the quality of maternal, newborn and child health service at health facilities and strengthening health system environment.
In the next five years, the project will improve the current healthcare service at the community level through capacity building of community health nurses as well as their day-to-day operations.
Woochan Chang, KOICA Country Representative, said the government of Korea was pleased that the record of discussion for further support to the implementation of CHPS in the Upper East Region had been moved to the level of the grant signing.
He said, “As Ghana’s partner, the government of Korea through KOICA has been willing to contribute to this wonderful initiative and reaffirmed its commitment in the health sector by supporting Ghana’s CHPS strategy.”
Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyirah, Director General of GHS, expressed government’s appreciation to the government of Korea for their support which will equip CHPS compound, health centres and district hospitals with various medical equipment and train doctors and midwives to improve their respective capacity in delivering the required services for maternal and newborn care.
He said, “Moreover, the capacity for health information reporting and management from the level of CHPS compound will be strengthened as well.”
Dr Appiah-Denkyirah later assured the government of Korea that the fund will be used for its intended purpose, indicating that the issue of accountability will be treated as a priority in the project.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri