Presbyterian Church strengthens partnership with State

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) is ready to strengthen its partnership with the state in the areas of health, education and agriculture to accelerate the growth of the economy.

The Moderator of the PCG, Rev. Professor Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, said this at the opening of the church’s National Stakeholders Consultative Forum on Social Services in Accra yesterday.

He said partnering the government to promote social services for the citizenry would help the government achieve its vision of Ghana Beyond Aid.

The meeting was on the theme: "Let Christ be formed in you: Impacting and transforming our world through social services".

It had the focus of improving access to quality health services and modernising agriculture through a church-government partnership.

Social services

Rev. Prof. Mante said benefits to accrue from the church-government partnership in the areas of health care, education and agriculture could not be overemphasised.

He said in its 191 years of existence in Ghana, the PCG had provided social services, in addition to its cardinal role of providing spiritual and moral guidance.

He said in the area of education, the church had established 2,440 basic schools, 30 senior high schools, five colleges of education, four nurses training colleges, two research institutions and two universities.

In the health sector, the moderator said, it had set up four health training institutions and a health-related faculty at the Presbyterian University College and had also founded 55 healthcare facilities, ranging from health posts to sub-regional hospitals.

Currently, he said, the church was working to establish a specialist hospital.

In agriculture, he said, it had seven agricultural stations and had acquired hectares of land across the country to be used in producing various food crops.

"The Presbyterian Agricultural stations at Tease, Donkorkrom and parts of the Afram Plains in the Eastern Region and the many agricultural stations in the five regions of the north are key stakeholders in the government's Planting for Food and Jobs and Rearing for Food and Jobs programmes," he said.

Additionally, he said, the church was engaged in other social service programmes, such as the resettlement of the alleged witches of Gambaga, the establishment of potable water facilities and livelihood empowerment projects for communities and the institution of insurance brokerage firms.

Rev. Prof. Mante urged the government to address challenges in the health sector, such as delayed payment of national health insurance premiums, non-regular health workers, and also beef up under-staffed health facilities.

Important intervention

The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said the contribution of churches to the health sector in the country was critical, as it reduced disparities in health
provision.

He said the doctor-patient ratio in the country was a challenge, with about 82 per cent of doctors working in the Greater Accra and the Ashanti regions alone, while the other regions lacked doctors.

“We have been trying to introduce all sorts of incentive packages, such as additional duty allowances, and have been exploring other motivational strategies to get them to work in the other regions, but they are not working,” he said.

For Ghana to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), he said, it would be essential to move health facilities to the people, so that distance would not be a barrier, “but even though we are spreading health facilities across the country and need to send doctors there, we just can't find them”.

He commended the PCG for its ability to attract health professionals through the offer of competitive remuneration packages.

Mr Agyeman-Manu said the Ministry of Finance would soon release funds to clear outstanding arrears owed by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).