News
Iduapriem Health Centre in dire need of ambulance …they rely on taxis during emergencies
The Iduapriem Health Centre at Mile 8, in the Adieyie community of the Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality in the Western Region, has appealed to the government and the Ghana Health Service, to assist in the provision of ambulance to improve emergencies, especially maternal cases.
The clinic established in 1992, as The Spectator learnt, serves farming and mining communities with a population of about 3,000 and continues to face health challenges each day.
The facility serves eight farming communities including Badukrom, Adieyie, Abompeniso and Akrika where cocoa and food crops including cassava and plantain are produced in abundance. The area hosts the Iduapriem Mine.
Presently, the Mile 8 clinic records three deliveries per week.
The Physician Assistant at the Health Centre, Ms Vivian Agyemang, made the appeal through The Spectator on Monday, when Evanex Foundation, a charity organisation, donated assorted items to the centre.
She said: “We need more of the equipment and assistance, especially an ambulance to handle emergencies including referrals. We handle referrals from the Mile 10 CHPS compound and we also refer patients to the Apinto Hospital at Tarkwa.
“But we don’t have an ambulance to handle critical labour situations and deliveries. Our only hope is the taxis, but they close after 10pm. Meanwhile, Mile 8 is a 24-hour health centre.”
Ms Agyemang reported that the Out-Patient-Department (OPD) recorded about 20 patients daily which meant that the four-room clinic was crowded and, therefore, inadequate for the growing Adieyie community and the surrounding villages.
The items were bags of cement, floor tiles, a refrigerator, a set of office furniture, a television set, two mowers and a polytank with a pumping machine attached.
She mentioned that the centre was faced with accommodation, water and transport challenges, and hoped that the new pumping machine would go a long way to save the situation, noting that the Evanex gesture had arrived at a time the facility needed critical equipment and infrastructural development to improve the conditions of patients.
The Chief Executive Officer of Evanex Foundation, Mr Evans Ghartey, said the donation was to honour a pledge to support the operations at the Mile 8 health centre, stressing “we are aimed at improving health delivery at Mile 8 and beyond”.
He explained that the foundation focused on giving back to the less privileged in communities “to make the world become a better place for them”.
“We have to start sharing the little that we have with others and bring joy to the people. It has been my dream to help the community in which I grew up. We are performing this task of giving back to the community.
“We want to promote good health and living conditions of the Mile 8 community and beyond. We will eventually lessen the burden of governments in providing for everybody,” Mr Ghartey added.
The Assembly Member of Teberebie Electoral Area, Mr Manasseh Addison-Sackey, noted that Mr Ghartey, who had lived in the nearby New Techiman community, was well versed in the challenges facing the Adieyie communities, and described the donation as “a welcome gesture”.
He stated: “This is, indeed, a new development for our communities. It shows the commitment he made earlier and the love Evanex Foundation has for the people.”
The Queen of Adieyie, Nana Yaa Saara, reiterated that the call for an ambulance was one critical factor for health delivery and emergencies, especially for women in labour, adding “we can’t afford to lose our pregnant women through preventable situations”.
From Clement Adzei Boye, Mile 8, Adieyie
Troubled and anxious citizens in Damongo of the Savannah Region have expressed concerns about the number of young people, believed to be under the age of 18, involved in ‘shisha’ smoking in pubs and drinking spots within the township.
Eyewitnesses say the minors were seen patronising nightlife venues, where Shisha smoking happen in the open.
The situation has sparked renewed public concern over the enforcement of child protection laws and regulations governing the operations of entertainment centres in the municipality and country as a whole.
An eyewitness, who spoke to The Spectator on conditions of anonymity for security reasons, noted that the situation was becoming increasingly common.
“This is not a one-off incident. It is becoming very common, but residents like us cannot openly report or speak about it because our lives will be at risk,” he said.
Under Ghanaian law, minors were prohibited from patronising Shisha.
Public health experts have consistently warned that shisha use exposes users to harmful substances that can negatively affect brain development, respiratory health, and overall well-being, particularly among young people.
The residents believe the alleged incidents point to broader challenges relating to youth supervision, substance abuse, and weak enforcement of existing regulations and have called on municipal authorities, security agencies, and regulatory bodies to intensify monitoring of pubs and entertainment centres to ensure compliance with the law.
In an effort to address the menace, Mr Salisu Be-Awurbi, the Savannah Regional Minister, has led public education campaigns, engaged security agencies, and supported enforcement actions to address the rising use of illicit substances in the region.
Wura Kelly Seidu Boresah I, the Chief of Damongo, has also called on all stakeholders including parents, community leaders, institutions, and young people to actively support efforts to curb drug abuse, warning that the rising consumption of hard drugs poses a serious health threat to the future of the youth in the Savannah Region.
He also cautioned individuals involved in the sale and distribution of illicit drugs to immediately desist from the practice, stressing that offenders will face arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law.
From Geoffrey Buta, Damongo, Savannah Region
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Dr Theresa Baffour, an advocate for ending violence and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAHM SAHW Foundation, has said that society plays a critical and pivotal role in breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
According to her, domestic violence is a major contributor of making women, who are mostly the victims, mentally derailed and unable to engage in economic activities.
She said this when the foundation called on the Ga Mantse, Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, to solicit support for the initiative by the “Strong and Healthy Minds, Strong and Healthy Women” (SAHM SAHW) to combat domestic violence within the Ga State.
The visit was occasioned by the fact that domestic violence cases have become quite prevalent in the Ga communities and is retarding growth.
According to her, the canker was an impediment to national development because the victims were usually tortured and would have to go through series of therapies to return to the right state of mind.
Dr Baffour mentioned that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) places a mental toll on women, and was, therefore, important to break the cycle through comprehensive mental health support, crisis intervention and empowerment programmes in communities with high rates of GBV.
This intervention, she underscored, would help in empowering the denigrated victim of domestic violence to soundly heal, build and thrive.
Dr Baffour added that the initiative would provide holistic, trauma-informed mental health care and advocacy for young women affected by domestic violence.
According to her, the above statement would create safe spaces for healing and equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for renewed hope and empowered life.
The Ga Mantse pledged his support for the laudable initiative to combat domestic violence and also acknowledged the need to address it in the Ga State.
Further endorsement came from Justice Julia Naa-Yarley Adjei Amoah, Chief of Staff at the Office of the Ga Mantse, as she commended the team of SAHM SAHW Foundation for taking a bold step to end the canker in the Greater Accra.
She added that it was a step in the right direction to save vulnerable women from torture, stress and emotional abuse.
By Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah
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