Wantugu community appeals for completion of health centre

Work on a new health facility for the people of Wantugu, a farming community in the Tolon District in the Northern Region, which began earlier this year, has come to a standstill.

This follows the inability of the Tolon District Assembly to contribute its part of the  fund this year for the completion of the project by the close of the year to meet the health needs of the ever-growing population of Wantugu and its surrounding communities.

This came to light when journalists in the company of officials of the Christian Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) and the Baptist Child Development Programme (BCDP) visited the project site last Wednesday, to interact with health personnel at the existing health centre concerning how they were coping with the situation in the absence of a modern health facility in the community.

The project, initiated by CCFC in partnership with the BCDP - both child-centred non-governmental organisations (NGOs),  and the Tolon District Assembly - was based on the assessment needs of the community. The new health facility, on completion, will have a maternity ward, consulting rooms, a ward for both males and females, Outpatients Department (OPD) and a detention room which the existing health centre in the community does not have.

Signing of MoU

Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the implementing partners, the CCFC through the BCDP was to contribute GH¢175,000.00 while the Tolon District Assembly was to add a total of GH¢26,000.00 bringing the total cost of the project to GH¢201,000.00.

In an interview with the media, Programmes manager, Baptist Child Development Programme, Reverend James Amadu Siyibu said the assembly pledged to help in the construction of the new health facility for Wantugu but when the project started and “we contacted the assembly to contribute its part for the completion of the project, it failed to honour its side of the bargain.”

He said the completion of the new facility would help ease congestion at the old health centre which lacked most of the facilities that affected the quality of healthcare delivery to the people of the area, especially pregnant women, lactating mothers and children.

Rev. Siyibu explained that the new health facility was based on assessment needs of the community and this was done with the involvement of the assembly.

Assembly’s response

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Tolon, Mr Seidu Abukari, for his part, told journalists that the assembly was unable to make provision for the project in its 2016 budget, but had factored the project in its 2017 budget, and gave an assurance that the assembly would ensure the completion of the project next year.

A nurse at the Wantugu sub-district health centre, Mr Yussif Issah Techie, said the centre attends to 20 to 30 patients a day which puts a lot of pressure on the facility and the staff, since there is not enough space to effectively attend to the sick people, adding that lack of drugs was also a big challenge at the centre which affected their operations.

The Communications Manager of CCFC, Mr William Anim-Dankwa, for his part, reiterated the commitment of CCFC in the provision of modern health infrastructure to enhance health care, especially for children and their mothers, as well as pregnant women, to reduce maternal mortality in rural areas in the region.