The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), on Thursday donated a 19-seater boat to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to serve island communities of the Oti region.
The boat, known as the “Health Voyager”, will serve 30 percent of the population in the Oti region.
A statement issued by the US Embassy and made available to the Ghana News Agency(GNA) said the United States was committed to ensuring that all Ghanaians, regardless of their location, had access to quality health care.
The USAID/Ghana Health Office Director, Dr. Zohra Balsara, said USAID’s donations embodied its commitment to enhancing primary health care in Ghana.
The statement said Island communities along the Volta Lake were often cut off from health services due to geographical barriers.
It said the Health Voyager, designed and manufactured in Ghana, was custom-made to navigate the expansive Volta Lake.
” The boat will reshape the healthcare service delivery landscape along the Volta Lake coast, allowing community health staff to conduct routine outreach visits, including childhood vaccinations, pregnant women checkups, and counseling for nurturing underweight children,” the statement said.
It said the United States recently renovated a boat for the Volta Region, which was now serving 54,000 people across 45 island communities.
It also donated four pick-up trucks and 30 motorcycles–contributing to the total of over 300 motorcycles and 20 vehicles to the Ghana Health Service over the past year.
Source: GNA