Free health care for Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District

Doctors in the Gap International Volunteer Medical Programme, an African Rights Initiative International health development programme in Africa will be embarking on a week-long international medical outreach at the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District in the Northern Region from October 26 - 31, 2015.

The project that seeks to offer free health care to over 3, 000 people and register 600 under the National Health Insurance Programme is part of ARII’s efforts to bridge the healthcare gap in Ghana and Africa.

The chairman of the African Rights Initiative International, Mr. Alex Asiedu, who doubles as chairman of the Atlantic Group, ARII International partners and

the main sponsors of the medical mission expressed concern about the shortfall in healthcare delivery in Ghana, said “the pervasiveness of alarming rate of chronic diseases, poor infrastructure and dysfunctional systems create much difficulty for Africa’s healthcare workers and makes it very difficult for a large percentage of the population who live in poverty to access basic healthcare which is a right and not a privilege.

“In most of the communities where we work, access to basic healthcare is essentially non-existent.”

According to him, the survival of Africa’s healthcare system depends on the collective action of all stakeholders to make qualitative investment in healthcare delivery.

Speaking on the programme, the Executive Director of ARII, Mr. Prince Williams Oduro, added that health and poverty are inherently linked.

To him, the ’Voice of the Poor’ which completed 127 case studies of families who had fallen into poverty, “ill-health emerged as the single most common trigger for a downward slide into poverty. Individual testimonies reflect this finding – ill-health is perceived both as a cause of increased poverty and as an obstacle to escaping it.”

He indicated that ARII will remain committed to working with the grassroots to identify common health concerns to develop programmes to address the major problem that has bedevilled healthcare systems in Ghana and beyond.

On his part, Director of Health Services at the Sawla- Tuna- Kalba- District, Mr. Thomas B. Sennor expressed his profound appreciation to the ARII Doctors in the Gap Team on behalf of the chiefs and people of Kalba and its environs for choosing the area for the project.