Adaklu: Mr. Dogah Tsigbe, the Coordinator of the Network of Practice (NoP) of the Adaklu District Health Directorate, emphasized the critical role of Community Health Management Committee (CHMC) members as the liaison between health facilities and their communities. He advised CHMC members to encourage community members to utilize local health facilities as the first point of contact for healthcare and to mobilize support for these facilities.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Tsigbe delivered this message during a one-day capacity-building training session for CHMC members from five communities in the Adaklu district, held at Adaklu Waya. The event was organized by the I Am Aware (IAA) Programme of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), in collaboration with the Agency for Sustainable Development, its implementing partner in Adaklu district. The training aimed to enhance participants' understanding of the Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) concept and the NoP, and to equip them with skills to use scorecards as an accountability tool for improving health governance and service quality in the district.
Mr. Tsigbe highlighted that the NoP operates as a collaborative, hub-and-spoke model within the health sector, connecting primary care facilities to a central 'model health center hub' to improve service quality, efficiency, and referral systems. This approach promotes shared resources and accountability to achieve universal health coverage and reduce congestion at higher-level hospitals. The initiative aims to increase access to quality essential healthcare and population-based services for all by 2030, as well as reduce avoidable maternal, adolescent, and child deaths and disabilities while enhancing access to responsive clinical and public health emergency services.
Mr. Tsigbe identified five Networks within the district: Ahunda, Waya, Wumenu, Sofa/Ablornu, and Helekpe. The District Health Directorate supports these Networks through logistics procurement, resource mobilization, and supervision. The Networks also receive technical support from the National Health Insurance Authority, which has resulted in increased monthly NHIS claims, reduced NHIS claims rejections, increased NHIS claims enrollment, and higher attendance rates. The capacity building of health workers, CHMC, and community members has contributed to improved referrals.
The district has experienced significant advancements in logistics management, attributed to the empowerment of Networks to share resources among themselves. Mr. Cheetham Mingle, a Research Assistant at CDD-Ghana, urged participants to apply the knowledge gained from the training to implement their community action plans, organize quarterly meetings, and develop community scorecards to monitor the quality of services provided by their CHPS facilities.
The IAA Programme, a non-partisan citizen empowerment campaign by CDD-Ghana, provides free user-friendly data on public service delivery in various sectors, including education, health, sanitation, water, security, roads, and agriculture, with the goal of increasing citizens' awareness and engagement with duty-bearers to enhance accountability.