By: Nicholas Osei-Wusu
Very soon, inhabitants of Apitikooko, a farming community in the Ashanti region, will be able to access primary healthcare at their door step instead of traveling considerable distances elsewhere for their healthcare needs.
This follows the commencement of work on the construction of CHPS Compound at a cost of three point-five million Ghana Cedis being fully funded by the Obuasi Mine of AngloGold Ashanti.
Apitikooko is a predominantly farming community with about two thousand inhabitants who are predominantly peasant farmers.
According to the people, access to healthcare for them has been relatively difficult since they have, over the years, struggled to traveled considerable distances mainly to Obuasi for their healthcare and maternal care needs.
This situation, according to the residents, has forced some of them to rely heavily on herbal concoctions and itinerant druggist for their care in times of ill health due to the lack of a primary healthcare provider within the community.
Following a request by the Municipal Health Directorate and Assembly, AngloGold Ashanti accepted construct a CHPS Compound to address their primary healthcare needs.
The project, being financed at a cost of three point-five million Ghana Cedis, is to be executed by a local firm, BODTECH Company Limited within seven months with the project deadline set for June next year.
The CHPS Compound will have a residential accommodation for the nurses and other essential staff attached for a 24-hour primary healthcare to the inhabitants.
The Senior Manager in charge of Engineering at AngloGold Ashanti, Eric Broni, shed more light on the importance of the project.
“The CHPS Compound is to provide primary healthcare and maternal care to the people at their doorstep. It is in line with our development plans for the Mine’s operational communities”, Mr. Broni explained.
The Obuasi Municipal Director of Health, Martin Sarfo Osei, described the Apitikooko CHPS Compound as a booster for disease surveillance and the referral system in the area.
He said “the CHPS Compound will serve as a good referral facility. It can also serve as a pivot for surveillance so that, my technical people can also alert me when there’s a problem. For me, I think it’s a good initiative. I thank AngloGold and also the MCE for this facility.”
The Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, Elijah Adansi Bona, expressed the hope that, with the number of health facilities being built in various communities within the municipality, Obuasi would very soon become a hub for health tourism only next to Kumasi in the Ashanti region.