Obuasi (Ash), May 21, GNA - The government has released additional 2.5 billion cedis for the completion of the new health nursing school at Fomena in the Adansi West district.

Last year, 2.1 billion cedis was released towards the project, which was initially estimated at 3.8 billion cedis.

Mr Joe Boampong, Adansi West District Chief Executive, announced this in a speech read for him at the regional launch of this year's nurses' week at Obuasi on Thursday.

The theme for the celebration was: "Nurses Working With The Poor Against Poverty".

Mr Boampong said the project was a demonstration of the government's commitment to the upkeep of nurses and the health sector in general.

He said the district assembly on its part was doing everything possible to support the improvement of health delivery in the area. "Recently, the assembly donated an anaesthetic machine to the Obuasi Government Hospital to assist in its theatre operations as well as the building of a maternity block at Akrofuom", Mr Boampong said. The DCE announced that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) would soon take off in the district and appealed to all stakeholders to contribute their quota to ensure its success.

Dr Agatha Akua Bonney, Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Health Services, urged nurses to provide comfort, as well as psychological, emotional, mental, economical and spiritual support to their patients. Dr Bonney reminded the nurses of their code of ethics and said it enjoined them not to discriminate against patients on grounds of the nature of illness, occupation, culture, ethnicity and gender. She held that the theme chosen was a year's reflection on what a nurse should do with regards to the poor in health provision in the society.