Agona East Assembly to improve health delivery in the district

Agona Nsaba (C/R), Feb. 6, GNA - The Agona East District Assembly is to undertake a number of interventions to improve health delivery in the newly created district. Some of the interventions include the upgrading of the Nsaba Health centre into a district Hospital, which would be equipped with a laboratory, an X-ray machine, wards and residential accommodation for doctors, nurses and paramedical staff.

The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr John Oremus Arko made this known at the Ordinary meeting of the Agona East district Assembly at Agona Nsaba. Others are, the construction of a clinic at Kwanyako and Mankrong Junction, and also addressing the challenges facing other existing health facilities.

Mr Arko said education on the National Health Insurance Scheme would be intensified to be able to meet its target of at least 80 percent of the population registering with the scheme by the end of 2010. "Public awareness would be created on the exemption Policy so that the public becomes aware of the eligibility criteria and procedures, while at the same time, the Health service facilities would be responsible to the health needs of the vulnerable".

The DCE said there are about 58 communities in the district that use bore holes as their source of water supply, adding that, others have no reliable source of portable water supply and depend on wells and rivers, which expose them to several water borne diseases. He said to address this imbalance; effort would be made to provide more bore holes to serve as sources of portable water to the communities. Mr Arko said eleven more boreholes would be dug this year and that those that had broken down would also be rehabilitated. He said the district needs more refuse and cesspit trucks to curtail the unsanitary conditions in parts of the district. 6 Feb. 10