Kayoro (U/E), – Residents of Kayoro in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region have cut the sod to construct a community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compound in the Kadania Community of the Saboro Electoral Area, through a self-help initiative.
The lack of a CHPS facility in the area had contributed to many stillbirths and maternal mortality, the community members have indicated.
Mr Thomas Kwalase, the Assembly member for the Saboro/Kayoro Electoral Area, said though community health nurses were posted to the area in 2020 as part of the Ghana Health Service’s policy to have CHPS compounds in each electoral area, there had not been any such facility to enable health workers to serve the residents.
Mr Kwalase said the community members, through their own efforts, provided a temporal structure for the health workers to operate in until a CHPS compound was built.
While waiting for the government’s intervention, the community members raised funds to buy 65 bags of cement to mould blocks for the construction.
“I have used my sitting allowances, be it committee sittings or ordinary sessions of the Assembly, to support the project, since 2020. As part of our mobilisation, we are currently having about 30 bags of cement for the start of the project”, he said.
Recounting the challenges the community faced without a CHPS compound, Mr Kwalase said: “In 2019, my pregnant wife, who was in labour, lost the baby while being transported to the Sandema Hospital due to lack of a health facility and bad roads.”
“I believe many people are suffering from similar pain I felt during that period,” he said.
The Assembly-member commended the people for their benevolence and appealed to the Government and corporate bodies to assist in constructing the CHPS compound.
Pe Oscar Tiyiamo Batabi II, the Paramount Chief of the Kayoro Traditional Area, reiterated the difficulties the people faced due to lack of a CHPS compound, especially the stillbirths and maternal mortality, and appealed to the Government and benevolent individuals for support.
Mr Gerard Ataogye, the Kassena-Nankana West District Chief Executive, commended the people for the initiative and said development was a shared responsibility.
The DCE promised to lend the Assembly’s support to the project.
Source: Ghana News Agency