First Lady cuts sod for health facility

The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo, yesterday cut the sod for the construction of a 16-bed fully equipped health centre for the people of Kwame Anum in the Ga South municipality.

The facility, being constructed with funds from the Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation (IMPF), will serve the over 82,000 population of Kofi Anum, Ashalaja and surrounding communities.

It will complement the services rendered by the Obom Health Centre, the only health facility in the Obom sub-district in the Ga South municipality.

Addressing dignitaries at the ceremony, Mrs Akufo-Addo, who is also the Founder of the Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation, said her organisation strongly believed that access to quality health care was a basic human right and so was passionate when it came to bringing health care to the doorstep of Ghanaians.

“Part of what we do,” she said, “is to provide health facilities to communities that urgently need them, and Obom sub-district is one such community.”

Preventive, curative care

She urged organisations and institutions to support the quest for universal primary health care, stating: “For everyone to have reasonable access to quality health care irrespective of where they live, every community deserves to have a range of both preventive and curative health care by skilled providers”.

Mrs Akufo-Addo expressed optimism that the new facility, when completed by the end of the year, would be well staffed to provide the critical services needed and the health workers posted there would work tirelessly to provide the desired quality of care.

That, she said, would go a long way to take pressure off the Obom Health Centre, while bringing quality health care closer and accessible to the people.

On behalf of the Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation, Mrs Akufo-Addo thanked political, and traditional and opinion leaders in Ga South for their support in ensuring a successful project take-off, and asked that they continue to provide protection for workers and equipment on site to ensure a successful and timely completion of the project for the benefit of all.

She also encouraged the practice of sleeping under treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria infection and advised pregnant mothers to attend antenatal clinics, test for HIV, and exclusively breastfeed their babies for at least six months for better health.

Gratitude

The Chief of Kwame Anum, Nii Kwame Anum, expressed gratitude to Mrs Akufo-Addo and the Infanta Malaria Prevention Foundation for selecting their community to put up the health facility.

He described it as a timely relief in the face of the rapid rate of population increase in the Ga South Municipality with its attendant pressures on social infrastructure.

Other dignitaries who graced the ceremony were the Member of Parliament for Bortiano Ngeleshie Amanfrom, Alhaji Habib Saad, and the Municipal Chief Executive of Ga South, Mr Joseph Nyami Stephens.