By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Navrongo (U/E), March 9, GNA-WaterAid Ghana, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) focused organisation has presented some Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) materials and Personal Protective Equipment worth GH₵150,000.00 to two Health Directorates in the Upper East Region.
Some of the items included hand gloves, liquid soap, tissue paper, hand sanitizers, bleach, waterproof apron, nose masks, mobs, scrubbing brushes and chlorine solutions among others.
The Kassena-Nankana and Builsa North Municipalities are the beneficiaries, and the items would be distributed to 43 healthcare facilities in the two Municipalities to boost the infection prevention and control efforts of the healthcare facilities for quality healthcare delivery.
The support was part of WaterAid Ghana’s five-year Sexual Health and Reproductive Education (SHARE) project, funded by Global Affairs Canada and being implemented in four districts.
At a brief ceremony at Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality, to present the items to managements of the two health directorates, Mr Gilbert Asante, the Programmes Officer in charge of Policy, WaterAid Ghana, said the project sought to improve access to quality reproductive health services among young people.
Mr Asante said the focus of the project was to help address issues of WASH at the healthcare facilities to ensure compliance with the infection prevention and control protocols, and to prevent the spread of diseases at the healthcare facility level.
“We have organised training on infection prevention but we also know that for us to practice infection prevention, we require some logistics, so as part of the project we decided to support the Municipalities with some of these logistics so that they can practice infection prevention in their communities,” he said.
The Programmes Officer explained that many young people visited healthcare facilities to access health services including sexual and reproductive health services but were also at risk of infection if the infection prevention and control was not done right due to a shortage of preventive materials.
He therefore, said there was a need to protect not only the clients but also the health workers who provide healthcare at the facility level to contribute to improvement in healthcare delivery.
Mr Benson Azure, the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Director, of Ghana Health Service, lauded the efforts of WaterAid Ghana over the years and noted that the support was timely and would boost infection prevention.
He said the support would relieve the health directorate of financial burden, adding “right now we are using our Internally Generated Fund to buy most of the things they are giving us today.
“Besides, our adolescents come in their numbers and it is our responsibility to ensure that they go back safely, so the items are going to help us to ensure that people who visit our facilities do not return home with infections and that will us achieve the Universal Health Coverage agenda,” he added.
Ms Harriette Yeribu, the Builsa North Municipal Director, Ghana Health Service, noted that the support had come at a time that respiratory infections were on the rise and the health facilities needed assistance to provide health care to clients especially the youth.
She said some of the current policies including Adolescent Corners, and wellness clinics among others underscored the need to have logistics that would help provide the needed care devoid of infection, to encourage young people to access sexual and reproductive health services at the facility level.
GNA