7 communities denied healthcare in Upper-Manya Krobo

Seven communities on the Volta Lake islands in the Upper-Manya Krobo District have no access to health care because the boat used by Ghana Health Service to offer outreach service to them has broken down.

People in those community as a result only have access to healthcare when they travel on commercial boats on market days to Akateng, Sekesua and Asesewa, leaving some people especially pregnant women to their fate.

The GNA Media Auditing and Tracking of Development Project, being sponsored by STAR-Ghana to help speed up community development and participatory democracy, gathered that for the past nine months, the boat had not worked leading to low attendance to ante-natal clinics and supervised deliveries in those communities.

An opinion leader from one of the communities who spoke to the GNA team on condition of anonymity, said some pregnant women who wanted medical care had to relocate to Asesewa or other communities and stayed with relatives to enable them to have access to health facilities.

He said the situation was worrying since one could only get means of transport during market days when the commercial boats plied the lake and appealed for help to forestall emergencies.

Mrs Sarah Donkor, District Director of Health Services, when contacted by the GNA team, confirmed the story and disclosed that the boat developed leakages making it dangerous to be used on the lake.

Mrs Donkor said due to this development, the District Health Directorate had not been able to reach out to those seven communities on the lake which is a real cause for concern.

She appealed to the assembly and other well-meaning Ghanaians to come to their aid.

She said the directorate was cash-trapped to go in for a rented boat to conduct their activities but indicated that efforts were being made to put the boat back on the lake since the outboard motor was in good condition.