By Gilbert Azeem Tiroog
Tongo (U/E), Dec 8, GNA – The Rural Initiative for Self-Empowerment (RISE)-Ghana, in partnership with the Star Ghana Foundation, has held a meeting with the community of practice in the Talensi District to address issues of maternal health and quality of care.
The meeting, which brought together health committees across health facilities in the district, afforded the service providers the opportunity to present challenges confronting them in their line of work for feedback to duty-bearers.
The engagement also focused on enabling Facility Health Committees and citizen groups the opportunity to engage with duty bearers on interventions that have improved maternal and quality of care, discuss facility-specific challenges to improving maternal health, and come up with recommendations.
It also aimed at strengthening health committees and citizen groups to champion access to quality maternal health services in their respective communities across the district.
The meeting formed part of RISE-Ghana`s Gender Rights Empowerment Project (G-REP), with funding support from the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office, being implemented in Nabdam and Talensi Districts.
Speaking at the meeting in Tongo Madam Jaw-haratu Amadu, Programmes Manager, RISE-Ghana, noted that the provision of health care was a collective responsibility and urged all stakeholders to be involved in health care issues in their communities.
She said while government was expected to provide the needed infrastructure to promote access to quality health care delivery, it was also incumbent on community members to complement the efforts of health facilities by giving them the needed support.
She emphasized that it was right for organisations to honor their corporate social responsibility and urged the Talensi District Assembly to demand same from the mining companies operating in the area to invest in the health system in the district.
Madam Juliana Anam-erime, the Talensi District Director of the Ghana Health Service, indicated that the G-REP project has played a key role in improving maternal health care delivery in the district.
According to her, “the impact of the G-REP project has been great because the communities have taken the health facilities into their own hands and do come for meetings when they are called upon and in their own ways, also support the health facilities in gearing towards improving quality health care, and we appreciate that much.”.
She indicated that the district has not recorded maternal deaths for the past two years, and though there were still a few challenges with neonatal deaths, the health directorate, with the support of RISE Ghana, was committed to addressing the issues.
Mr Innusah Ayaaba, a Physician Assistant at the Winkogo Health Center, reiterated the frequent meetings by community health committees, initiated by RISE-Ghana and giving the community members some sense of ownership, and therefore they were eager to review their own activities for smooth running of the facilities.
Ms Akibsa Nmah Azaratu, Assistant District Planner, in response to some of the issues raised, including absence of streetlights and inadequate accommodation for staff, said the Assembly would factor in the concerns of the community into its plans going forward to be addressed.
GNA