Akolposka(UE), Nov. 29, GNA - Five Communities in the Bongo District in Upper East Region has appealed to government and Non Governmental Organizations to come to the aid of their only community health Post at Akolposka.

They said the health post lacks adequate personnel and logistics that would enable it to function efficiently to deliver health services. At a meting at the weekend to articulate their concerns, community members said the health post at present had no midwife to attend to pregnant women, which had been a source of worry because people commute for about five miles to Bongo-Soe to give birth. The road to Bongo-Soe, they said, is also not good and it becomes worse during rain season.

The meeting, which met stakeholders in the health sector, was sponsored by Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) and organized by the Programme for Rural Integrated Development(PRIDE) and the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) both NGOs.

The District Director of Health in charge of Bongo District, Ms Rofina Asure assured the communities that despite government's limited resources, she would make frantic efforts to address their health needs. She said the Ghana Health Service had increased its training institutions in all the regional capitals and encouraged people to enrol in the institutions to help increase the manpower requirement. Ms Asure indicated that her directorate had received health facilities including sterilizers, disinfectants, weighing machines among other items to be distributed to health centres in the various districts. She also appealed to community members to pay their taxes regularly to enable the Assembly to meet their demands.

The Upper East Regional Manager of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), Mr Jonathan Adabre, urged community members to always consult the District Assembly with their development needs. He said they should as community leaders initiate projects and programmes that would win the support of the Assembly and other stakeholders.

Mr Adabre appealed to them to practice family planning to deliver sizable number of children in order to be able to take proper care of them. The Project Coordinator of PRIDE in charge of Upper East Region, Mr Thomas Abagmbire Adua, said the purpose of the programme was to help achieve one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's). He stressed that there was the need to target the health providers and health seekers on their respective roles and responsibilities by ensuring that there was improved maternal health, decreased child mortality and morbidity and to reverse the trend of HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. He explained that it was when citizens were well informed about their roles and responsibilities that they would be better placed to offer their support to achieve a holistic health needs in the country. 29 Nov. 09