By Philip Tengzu
Kpaglahi (UWR), Nov. 5, GNA – A tricycle ambulance service introduced in five remote communities in the Upper West Region has helped save at least four lives since September 2026.
The intervention by the Rotaract Club of Accra-East Legon and the Rotary Club of Wa was informed by the poor roads and a lack of transport in some remote communities in the region, which delayed healthcare access, especially in emergencies.
The situation becomes particularly dire when a patient is referred from a primary health facility in a remote community to a secondary or tertiary health facility, mostly located in urban and peri-urban centres.
This was the case in Kataah, Kpaglahi and Kulkpong in the Wa East District, and Vieri and Eggu in the Wa West District.
Pregnant women in labour, children, the aged and other community members requiring emergency healthcare were either transported by tricycle or motorbike to the health facility.
However, transporting patients late or in unsuitable vehicles sometimes leads to preventable deaths.
Therefore, the intervention, with funding from the Rotary Foundation Global Grant, provided customised tricycle ambulances to the five communities in September 2026.
The initiative, dubbed “Wheels of Hope”, was in partnership with the Rotary Clubs of Cambridge (Massachusetts), Kyoto South, Bedford, Concord, Boston Seven and Berlin-International and Moving Health.
It was aimed at improving access to emergency healthcare in underserved communities, particularly during referrals, to help reduce preventable deaths.
As part of the intervention, the project team visited Kataah and Kpaglahi to assess the impact of the ambulances and officially introduce them to the communities.
At Kataah, the community members recounted that the ambulance had been used to transport two emergency cases – an accident victim and a patient suffering from seizures – to health facilities in Wa.
Similarly, the residents of Kpaglahi reported that the ambulance had helped save two lives by conveying patients who required urgent medical attention to health facilities in Wa.
Speaking at Kpaglahi during the visit, Ms. Janatul-Firdaus Yussif, Senior Enrolled Nurse at the Kpaglahi CHPS Compound, said the facility used to depend on patients and their relatives to make their own transportation arrangements whenever referrals were necessary.
She said the situation was worrisome because health workers could not always ensure that referred patients reached the appropriate facilities.
“Actually, when we refer them to go, some go, and some don’t because you are sometimes not able to follow up to ensure they go”, she said.
Ms. Yussif expressed optimism that the tricycle ambulance would help improve the situation by making the movement of referred patients easier and faster.
Naa Kadri Ibrahim, the Jimpenhi Naa (Chief) assured the benefactors that the Kpaglahi community would take proper care of the ambulance to ensure its effective operation and long-term sustainability.
He said the ambulance had been a pressing need for the area because the residents often struggled to access health facilities in Wa and Busa when referred for further treatment.
At Kataah, Madam Bernice Jakalia, a Community Health Nurse, expressed appreciation to the Rotary Club of Wa and its partners for the intervention.
She said it would help ease the challenge in arranging transportation for patients requiring referral to higher-level health facilities.
On her part, Ms Ruth Buelah Awotwe, the President of the Rotaract Club of Accra-East Legon, said the intervention was in response to concerns raised by the communities about the difficulties they faced in accessing timely healthcare.
She said their feasibility assessment revealed significant gaps in emergency transportation, which prompted a need to intervene.
Mr Felix Amonteba Petio, the Director of Service Projects, Rotary Club of Wa, encouraged the community to take ownership of the ambulances and take collective responsibility for protecting and maintaining them to ensure that the intervention achieved its intended purpose.
The Wheels of Hope initiative would also contribute to achieving targets 3.1 and 3.2 of the SDGs, which seek to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio, and end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age, respectively, by 2030.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Philip Tengzu, GNA
Reporter’s email: [email protected]