Oyarifa community receives health facility

The La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly has handed over a clinic with modern amenities to the Oyarifa community located within the municipality in the Greater Accra Region.

The clinic has an outpatient department (OPD), recovery ward, delivery ward, child welfare room, admission room, and a nurses’ rest room, among others.

Apart from the Oyarifa community, the direct beneficiaries of the facility are Teiman and other sub-municipalities that are closer to Oyarifa.

Giving a background of health facilities in the entire municipality, the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Priscilla Anima Poku, said the municipality is divided into five sub-municipals namely: Nkwantaanang, Tatana, Danfa, Social Welfare and Pantang, where Oyarifa falls under.

She said the Pantang Psychiatric Hospital, which is the only public health facility within the municipality under the Ministry of Health (MOH), is quite far from the Oyarifa community, and there is no GHS public health facility in the area to cater for their health-care needs in times of emergencies, though there are CHPS compounds scattered around.

Mandate of GHS

The health director said the mandate of the health directorate was to implement GHS policies that were in line with the MOH vision and mission, which had to go with logistics and health facilities such as the clinic commissioned for the Oyarifa community.

She, however, noted that the facilities were not evenly distributed in the municipality to meet the growing population of 255,000 and there was, therefore, the need to expand access of health care to meet the needs of the people.

She assured the assembly that the health directorate would ensure that the facility was well maintained to last long.

The medical doctor said October is noted as World Breast Cancer Awareness Month and, therefore, seized the opportunity to advise people, especially women, to go for breast cancer screening, as early detection would save the situation.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Jennifer Dede Adjabeng, enumerated a number of projects done in the municipality during her two terms in office and was particularly happy that the people of Oyarifa could now have access to quality healthcare despite their geographical location.

“The clinic being commissioned today goes to represent our commitment as an assembly to providing quality health care services that are closer to our people. This is because we recognise the importance of health-care delivery in promoting the well-being and productivity of our citizens in the municipality,” the MCE stated.

To the people of Oyarifa, she said the clinic was a testament to the assembly’s unwavering commitment to their well-being, as she acknowledged the importance of accessible health care in promoting economic growth, social development and overall quality of life.

The Assemblyman for the Oyarifa Electoral Area, John Okpoti Mensah, lauded the MCE for her good leadership and commitment that led to bringing the healthcare facility to the doorstep of the people in his electoral area.

Fencing

The regent of Oyarifa, Nii Dzaase Sowah Gas, on behalf of the community, thanked the assembly for the facility and however appealed to the assembly to fence the clinic to deter miscreants in the community from entering the clinic at unusual times.

The NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the Madina Constituency, Robert Lamptey, gave an amount of GH¢₵ 20,000.00 as seed money for maintaining the clinic.