North-East Region: KOICA, UNICEF provide logistics to enhance health care delivery

The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has provided some items and logistical support to ensure comprehensive community-based primary health care delivery in the North East Region.The donation was part of the Community-Based Planning and Services (CHPS) Plus Project Phase II, which is being implemented in the area.Seven pick-up vehicles, 20 tricycle ambulances, 78 motorbikes, 40 mobile phones, 44 delivery beds, 450 each of the following items: bicycles, knapsacks, torchlights, raincoats, and wellington boots, as well as 190 Veronica buckets are among the items presented.The others are 480 branded T-shirts, four surgical masks, 73 stethoscopes, two air conditioners, a photocopier machine, a projector and nine laptop computers.Mr Dong Hyun Lee, the Country Director, KOICA, at the handing over ceremony at Gambaga in the East Mamprusi Municipality of the region, said the items were specifically chosen to address key challenges related to the health care needs of the people.He said KOICA had been a proud partner in strengthening Ghana's primary health care delivery in facilitating the country's efforts to attain the universal health coverage.Mr Bhanu Pathak, the Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, Tamale, expressed support for the project and gave the assurance to continue to provide technical support to ensure its successful implementation.Dr Abubakari Baba Braimah, the North East Regional Director of Health, said KOICA and UNICEF had made a huge impact in the region's quest to improve health care outcomes.The project has, so far, benefitted 70 CHPS zones in all the six districts, 22 health centres, and four hospitals; the Chereponi Government Hospital, Binde Hospital, Nalerigu Baptist Medical Centre, and the Walewale Hospital.He said prior to the implementation of the project, only 74 CHPS zones out of 154 demarcated in the region had trained community health officers (CHOs) and that 50 CHOs were trained in 2023 after the lau nch of the project, whilst 72 received refresher courses.'The proportion of skilled deliveries conducted at the CHPS level in the region increased from 20.9 per cent to 22.6 per cent at the end of 2023 and sharply increased to 32 per cent at the end of the first quarter of 2024. Immunisation services increased from 61 per cent to 63 per cent between the end of 2022 and 2023,' Dr Braimah said.Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General, Ghana Health Service, whose speech was read on his behalf, corroborated the innovativeness of the project, saying it was community centered and aligned perfectly with the country's network of practice approach.He appealed to the various stakeholders in the region to own it to ensure that the intention for its implementation was achieved.Mr Yidana Zakaria, the Regional Minister, praised KOICA and UNICEF for their intervention and pledged to show keen interest in how the tools were used to ensure a longer lifespan to achieve the intended purpose.Source: Ghana News Ag ency