Mr Philimon Agyapong, the Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), has described the government’s flagship Free Primary Health Care Programme as a positive step toward making healthcare accessible to those in deprived communities.
While stating that the initiative is laudable and deserves commendation, he was quick to emphasise that the newly established facilities must be adequately resourced to succeed.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he warned that without the necessary investment, the initiative risks failure.
The programme is set for an official launch today, Wednesday, 15 April, by President John Mahama at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region.
Details of the rollout were previously shared by the Minister of Health, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, during the Government Accountability Series Press Conference at the Presidency.
According to Mr Akandoh, the programme will require an annual investment of GH¢1.2 billion and will initially target 150 underserved districts.
He further noted that the impact of the initiative would be felt within two months, as essential medical equipment is distributed to the earmarked districts during this first phase.
In his commentary on the rollout, Mr Agyapong highlighted the practical hurdles that often undermine such ambitious projects.
He remarked that “the free primary healthcare is positive and will make healthcare more accessible to those in deprived communities, especially for those who had to travel for long distances in accessing healthcare. However, as an association, our challenge is that those who would be tasked to roll out the initiative must be well resourced. The programme is a new one; however, our CHPS compound centres and other services we have run in the past have faced challenges because they are not well resourced and have no logistics to work with, while healthcare workers deployed there are not well catered for.
We are therefore admonishing the government to regularly make available funds, logistics, and all other materials that will be needed to make the implementation run smoothly. We do not want a situation where we would witness a shortage of needed logistics. We have been consulted and we have submitted our recommendations to the government for consideration.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana