Somboro (UW), July 26, GNA - People in four communities in the Jirapa District of the Upper West Region have been carrying their sick people on their backs and travel about 17 kilometres across rivers and streams to reach out to the nearest health facility at Sabuli for medical attention. The communities are Maaluu, Guo Kpara, Somboro and Goziri with a population of about 1,596 which are far away from any health institutions. Patients whose conditions were not considered serious were carried on motorbikes and travelled about 33 kilometres to Jirapa to attend the St. Joseph Hospital there.

Mr Robert Doglaa, a Health Volunteer at Maaluu disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during the sod-cutting ceremony of the construction of a Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound at Somboro on Wednesday. The project is among 14 others that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is to construct for rural communities in the region to promote quality healthcare service for the people to help reduce high incidence of maternal and child mortality. Mr. Doglaa mentioned malaria, snake bites and eye diseases as the most common diseases among the people.

"If a patient is seriously sick, we put that person on a mat and carry the person across the numerous rivers and streams to the nearest health facility at Sabuli and sometimes, some of them die while on the way to the hospital," Mr Doglaa said. Besides, the people have no school to educate their children. The only primary school that was built for the people had been closed down and the buildings collapsed. Mr Doglaa said children whose parents were interested in their education and had sent their children to schools at Sabuli and Makuri were risking their lives in crossing flooded rivers and streams during holidays.

Mr. George Hikah Benson, Upper West Regional Minister who cut the sod for the construction of the CHPS Compound, expressed concern about the deplorable conditions of the people. He gave the assurance that government would do everything possible to improve their living conditions. "Government will provide the communities with good roads, potable water and schools to educate your children," he said. Mr Benson called on the people to register with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to benefit from the services of CHPS Compound to live healthy lives. "The CHPS Compound concept is the most effective way of improving the lives of rural people," he said, but expressed regret that the facility would serve no purpose if they failed to patronize the NHIS. "It is the people themselves who can guarantee the best health practices for themselves," he said, and urged them to show more concern about nutrition and avoid cultural practices that were dehumanizing the people. Mr Benson thanked UNICEF and other development partners for their support aimed to reduce high maternal and child deaths in the region.