Paga youth decry slow pace of work on health facility

The Paga Youth Association in the Kassena West District has called on the superintending stakeholders to speed up expansion work on the main health facility in the District.

The youth said the stalled rehabilitation and expansion work was delaying the development of the area adding that the old facility which has been in existence since 1978 lacked many amenities which affected health service delivery for the people of the area.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Paga, the Chairman of the Association, Mr Richard Alogitega, said access to health services was crucial to the wellbeing of the people and the development of the area.

He said efforts of the youth to renovate and expand the old health facility has not received the needed support from relevant stakeholders in the area.

He said the current health facility did not have the needed amenities to match up to the current status of the district, yet it still served over 150 communities in the district together with foreign nationals from Burkina Faso and Mali.

He said clients had to be referred to the War Memorial Hospital in Navrongo to access medical care because there are no facilities such as wards to detain the sick and a theatre for minor surgeries.

He said the youth has over the years been very much concerned about the situation and raised an amount of GHC 120,000 during the 2017 Homecoming celebrations to construct a medical theatre to support the 40 bed capacity ward under construction.

Doctor Edward Adeb, Medical Director In charge of the facility, commenting on the situation said there was no progress on the work being done.

He said even though the facility has nurses and a pharmacy, they were unable to render the needed services and that maternal cases are often referred to Navrongo and Bolgatanga hospitals.

The Medical Doctor said “every young doctor’s dream is to stand up to challenges and work in exciting areas, whilst contributing innovations in the health services but I can say I am underutilized here”.