MPs pledged support to gov't effort to develop area

Bawku (UER) Feb.20, GNA- Three National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Bawku municipality have pledged their support to sustain government's policies to improve the health status of the people in the area.

These include educational drive on National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), provision of health facilities and incentives packages to attract and retain health personnel in the area. The pledge was made by the MP for Pusiga/Polimakom, Mr. Simon Akunye, at an end of year and awards ceremony for health workers in the municipality at Bawku.

In all, ten health staff from the sub-districts were honoured with a 21" television sets and certificates each whilst over 20 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and volunteers were also honoured. Mr. Akinye noted that health issues should not be based on partisan lines, adding that a concerted effort was the needed approach to ensure and improve health care delivery to the people. The MP commended health personnel for being dedicated to serve the people whist majority of their colleagues leave the country to seek greener pastures and assured them of total support to continue their work.

The Bawku Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Abdul-Rahman Gumah, in a speech read on his behalf, noted that the daily rush to register with the health insurance scheme testify that the people have understood the policy and as such all should endeavour to accept it for it to succeed. He disclosed that the scheme, which initially started with over 11,000 memberships last November, has now registered nearly 30,000 members as at January this year.

Mr. Gumah said this meant more people could access health care, which inevitably places more pressure on limited facilities and the few staff at post.

To this end, he called on health personnel to remain focused and committed to their profession to ensure that patients were treated humanely and were satisfied with their services. In his welcoming address, the Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr. William Duodu, charged health personnel to rededicate their professional call to meet the challenges of the NHIS. He disclosed that the directorate has trained 300 community-based health aids volunteers to augment the staff strength in rural communities.

Dr. Duodu stated that the awards committee did not favour any recipient, but were awarded on merit and urged them to work hard.