Agona East cries for district hospital

The Agona East District, which was created about six years ago, has no district hospital.

The situation has compelled expectant mothers who live in the district to seek medical care at Salvation Army Hospital, a private facility.
 
In view of this, it has become even more difficult for the district to achieve the MDGs on maternal health.

As part of its activities on maternal health, a team from SEND-GHANA embarked on a monitoring visit to the district.
 
The monitoring visit, which was undertaken on April 2014 formed part of routine exercise aimed at monitoring the delivery of maternal healthcare in six (6) selected districts across Ghana.
 
They include Agona East, Amansie West, Ejura Sekyere Dumase, Suhum, East Mamprusi and Kpandai districts.
 
Sandra Sarkwah, a field officer of SEND-GHANA said the visit is also aimed at tracking commitments and identify issues that have emerged from interventions such as policy dialogues and sensitizations.
 
During the visit, it was revealed that there was no laboratory at Agona Health Centre, a government facility.
 
“We don’t have an ultra-scan machine at the Antenatal Care (A&C) block,” Evelyn Sowah, the Midwife in Charge of Agona Nsaba Health facility bemoaned.
 
The district does not have accredited National Health Insurance Scheme pharmacy shop and it is bedeviled with lack of health personnel.
 
In view of this, the district assembly has written to authorities to request for a district hospital and has embarked on a number of health infrastructure projects to bring the situation under control.
 
Edith Gadagoe, the District Planning Officer said “at present we don’t have a district hospital though we qualify but we have planned to put up about five communities – based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds each year.
 
In 2013, the district managed to put up four CHPS compound with accommodation for the midwife in Brahabekume, Mansofo, Oboyamo and Otwakwa communities.
 
“We have also planned to put up an accommodation facility for the resident nurse at the CHPS zone and support the training of six midwives this year,” according to Gadagoe.
 
Daniel Adotey, a programme officer of SEND-GHANA advised the assembly to double its efforts in achieving the MDG 5.
 
“One of the visible ways we can see assembly support is to provide that physical infrastructure that is the CHPS compound and the necessary facilities that will help the CHPS to function well,” according to Adotey.
 
Agona East District, one of the twenty (20) districts in the Central Region is situated in the eastern corner of the Central Region and has a total land area of 667 square kilometres.