Mustapha Yahaya with his wife on the canoe in Moaddori
Pregnant women in the Mamprugu Moagdori district of the North East region have been compelled to use the services of canoe operators to enable them to move from the district to the Upper East Region to access health care.
The pregnant women and residents have been forced to use the canoes after a downpour cut off some 16 communities in the Mamprugu Moagdori district of the North East Region.
The affected communities have been submerged and do not have access to the district capital where they can get access to health care and other needs.
Pregnant women and residents spend hours at the water point to wait for a canoe operator which has become their source of transport to cross over the Upper East Region to access health care and perform other economical activities.
The Mamprugu Moagdori does not have an ambulance available for any emergencies in the district.
A resident, Ayishetu Fuseini said they do not have access to Walewale and its environs unless they pass through the Upper East Region.
According to her, pregnant women would have to pass through the Upper East to access health care because the roads and bridges have been submerged and cut off all the communities.
“ Pregnant women now go through difficulty to get to Upper East for health care, just last week a pregnant woman lost her baby because they delayed and by the time they got to the hospital in the Upper East and after they operated her the baby had already died.”
She expressed worry that using the canoe itself is risky for them especially the pregnant women in the district but they do not have an option.
Mr Mustaph Yahaya another resident who was spotted at the water point with his pregnant wife said he was accompanying her to the hospital but due to the submerged roads and bridges in the area, they are forced to use the canoe.
“ I am sending my pregnant wife to the hospital for medical care and we have been here for about 5 hours just to get a canoe to cross even though I am not comfortable with the canoe due to my wife’s condition that is the only source of transport so we have no choice.”
SDG 3
Sustainable Development Goal ( SDG) 3 seeks to ensure health and well-being for all, at every stage of life. By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.
Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive Officer of the Mamprugu Moagduri District, Abu Adam has however lamented about the lack of an ambulance for the district.
“The lack of an ambulance is a major challenge, it’s as a result of bad roads in the district because if you use the ambulance frequently passing through water it will affect the ambulance, imagine the water level and if someone is sick you will have to manage the ambulance like that so it’s about the nature of our roads that affected our ambulance.”
He indicated that the CEO of Ambulance Service, Prof. Zakaria …. has promised to provide the district with a new engine to replace the old one in the ambulance to enable the ambulance to be work again.
NADMO
Last week, the Deputy Director-General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Abu Ramadan, revealed that about 16 communities in the Mamprugu Moagdori had been cut off by heavy downpour.
The flood destroyed farmlands and the properties of residents in the district.
According to him, officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) have been sent to the Madurai district to assess the situation.
“We have our officials in every zone so assessment has been done and the region has been tasked to take care of those communities which have been cut off for relief items to be sent to them.”
He indicated that NADMO is trying to manage the impact of the floodwater and try to reconnect the cut off communities back to society.
Zipline
Mr Ramadan disclosed that they have visited the Zipline drone centre in the region to discuss how the cut off communities can get access to medicine to the health centres in the area.
“From our discussion with Zipline they have enough medication to fly to any affected community in the region and they are ready to give us any support and so we have asked our district directors to inform all the district health directors to contact Zipline.”
FROM Eric Kombat, Moagdori