By Albert Futukpor, GNA
Tamale, June 29, GNA – Two health facilities in the Northern and Savannah Regions have each taken delivery of a tricycle ambulance to serve as emergency rural health transport tools to ensure improved care for patients.
The two tricycle ambulances were locally fabricated and fitted with bed, first aid box and oxygen facility to support the provision of health care for patients on referral.
The beneficiary facilities were Saint Lucy Catholic Hospital at Kpalsi in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region, and the Primary Health Care Unit of the Catholic Clinic at Salaga in the Savannah Region.
They were donated to the health facilities by the Tamale Archdiocesan Development Organization (TADO), the development wing of the Catholic Church, as part of the implementation of the Promoting Resilient Outcomes in Maternal/Child Health Programming through Technology (PROMPT) for Zero Mortality project.
The PROMPT project, funded by Service for Charitable Interventions for the Development of Peoples of the Italian Episcopal Conference, seeks to ensure improved academic performance of adolescent girls through reduced menstruation, induced anemia and improved access to maternal and child health services for rural women.
This is to aid the attainment of zero mortality in selected communities in the northern part of the country to contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (three).
Most Reverend Philip Naameh, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, at a ceremony in Tamale to hand over the ambulances to representatives of the beneficiary facilities, said the intervention would help rural and underserved communities to access basic ambulance services, which were very critical in the value chain of health delivery.
Most Reverend Naameh appealed to development partners for support and collaboration to ensure that health care services were extended to communities without health facilities
Reverend Father Sebastian Zaato, Development Coordinator for TADO, said the ambulances would help the health facilities to respond to the emergency needs of people seeking health care, especially children and pregnant women to help reduce maternal and child mortality.
Reverend Father Zaato urged the beneficiary facilities to put in place a maintenance plan to help keep the ambulances in good shape to continue to serve them.
Mr Reynolds Awuah, Administrator, Saint Lucy Catholic Hospital, commended TADO and partners for the support, saying it would contribute significantly towards sustainable health care delivery in the area.
He gave assurance that the ambulances would be properly maintained and used for the intended purpose.
GNA