Sagnarigu District Hit With Myriad Of Challenges in Its Health Sector

Alhaji A.B. Fuseini, MP, Sagnarigu

Authourities at the Sanarigu District Assembly in the Northern Region of Ghana say its health facilities were currently saddled with myriad of challenges and dread the situation could get worse if aggressive measures were not put in place to address some of their essential needs.

According to the District Director of Health Service, Mrs. Gertrude Yentumi, some of the major challenges facing the district include lack of technical staff, erratic supply of drugs particularly for mentally ill persons, dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate office furniture and shelves for the storage of drugs and other logistics.

Speaking at a day’s civil society accountability forum organized by Gub-Katimali Society, a non-governmental organization in Tamale, she complained about the lack of vehicular logistics and inadequate qualified physician assistants to complement healthcare delivery as a big challenge to a district with a population of 95,978. “The health directorate has only one pickup, 6 motorbikes and two bicycles to do run errands”, Mrs. Yentumi disclosed.

The forum which was part of the implementation of a three-year project by Gub-Katimali Society dubbed ““Promoting an Inclusive and Empowered Civil Society to advance Socio-Economic and Political Development in Ghana”, brought together civil society organizations, assembly officials, persons with disabilities, persons with mental illness and epilepsy, the media among others.

The forum was aimed at soliciting support from key government institutions and departments such as the Ghana Water Company Limited and Ghana Health Service in the Tamale Metropolis and Sagnarigu District Assembly for various vulnerable groups in their respective areas and encourage officials to take into consideration their concerns when drafting their policies and programmes.

Mrs. Yentumi appealed to the Sagnarigu District Assembly to renovate Malshegu, Taha and Garishegu CHPS Compounds as well as Bagabaga clinic so that congestions at the few health centres could ease.

She also called on the Assembly to register vulnerable groups such as persons with mental illness and epilepsy with the National Health Insurance Scheme, adding that there were many people in the area suffering from different forms of mental illnesses but unfortunately did not have money to seek healthcare.

The Sagnarigu District Director of Health Service also appealed to the Northern Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service to endeavour to post some physician assistants and mental health officers to the district so that they could help solve some of the numerous health problems in the area.