Some nurses on the canoe to work
The Asuogyaman District Health Director, Rebecca Bantey, has appealed to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and non-governmental organizations to support the community’s purchase of an outboard motor to facilitate health service delivery.
Mrs. Bantey says the Health Directorate has six Community Health and Planning Services (CHPS) compounds under its control, of which four provide services to 27 Island communities.
“Our committed health workers have shown commitment to the community. However, the lack of the outboard motor to perform their duties as expected is causing grave danger to the health directorate.
Health workers are compelled to use unstandardized canoes without outboard motors which locals own to transport them across the Volta River to provide imperative services to these communities,” she said.
Mrs. Bantey emphasized that the Health Directorate has attempted to request the necessary provisions for the district to solve the situation but to no avail.
On the district level, the director said they have also made an appeal to Japan Motors Ghana but have not received a response yet.
She said they were provided with two boats for their operations but those could not last.
“Over the years since the damages of the boats, the district has not taken in any further deliveries.” This has forced them to manage the risk of relying on uncertified locally made canoes which are often small and operate without outboard motors for years now.
“We are calling on the public to help us purchase the boats to help make the delivery of health services to resident at the Asuogyaman easier,” she said.