Tanokrom, a deprived community in the Asante-Akim South District, has appealed to the government to provide the predominantly farming population with a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS).
The sick, including children and pregnant women, are forced to make a round trip of more than 24 kilometres, many a time on foot, to seek medical help.
The people say their situation becomes more dreadful and nightmarish during labour-related emergency, as the only traditional birth attendant (TBA), who used to supervise deliveries in the community, had died.
They told reporters of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that things were not being helped by the deplorable nature of the road connecting the area with the rest of the district.
Reporters of the nation’s wire service had visited under GNA/STAR-Ghana’s media auditing and tracking of development projects, an initiative launched to put a spotlight on how government’s resources were helping to transform the lives of the people, particularly those in rural communities.
The goal is to aid transparency, promote accountability and good local governance.
Mr. Philip Aninakwa, an opinion leader, said they had suffered neglect for far too long and that this should not continue.
He said pregnant women were left with no other option but to re-locate to Adomfe, where the nearest health facility is located, to put up with friends until childbirth.
He said the building of a CHPS compound would bring relief to them, adding that being farmers they are prone to accidents – injuries, scorpion and snake bites and the need to ensure prompt treatment could not be underestimated.
“We have just one rickety vehicle plying our route and even with this, it is often off-the-road with one kind of mechanical fault or the other. Ours has been a life of unending pain”, he added emotionally.
Source: GhanaWeb
