METTEW GETS HEALTH PLANNING SERVICES (PAGE 20)

METTEW is a small farming community in the Wa West District in the Upper West Region.
Being an isolated area, this community lacks a lot of social amenities. Social amenities such as potable water, electricity and others to improve their standard of living are not available in the community.
When the people are sick, they have to go to the nearest community called Gurungu, which is quite a distance.
Just recently, through the benevolence of Plan Ghana, a child-centred non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mettew has been provided with a community-based health planning services (CHPS) compound to cater for the health needs of the people.
The smiles, joy and happiness demonstrated by the people, amidst drumming and dancing, clearly indicated that at long last God had answered their prayers.
Inaugurating the CHPS compound, the Regional Minister, Mr George Hikah Benson, described the occasion as unique as it sought to bring health care delivery to the doorstep of the people.
He observed that health was wealth as no group of people could develop in the absence of health.
"It is, therefore, refreshing that this facility is being provided to serve as first point of call for all cases of ailment in and around the Mettew community," he said.
Mr Benson expressed the hope that the facility would contribute to the eventual reduction in both mortality and morbidity rates among the people.
According to him, the greatest challenge to health delivery in the region was the high maternal and under five mortality rates of 208 per 1,000 live births.
He said efforts to address those issues were yet to achieve the desired results, adding that soon a forum would be convened to discuss the problems in order to find a lasting solution to them.
The regional minister said the government in its quest to reduce infant mortality had unveiled a programme to provide free ante-natal care to all pregnant women.
He urged communities in the Wa West District to ensure that pregnant women registered with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The District Director of Health Services, Miss Phoebe Balaguutime, announced that eight out of the 32 CHPS compounds earmarked for the district had been completed.
She thanked Plan Ghana and other stakeholdders for their contribution in the provision of the facility.
The Northern Sector Manager of Plan Ghana, Mr William Agyekum-Acquah, expressed the hope that the people would make maximum use of the GH¢5,004 facility.