Guo (UWR), Nov. 25, GNA - The Lawra District in the Upper West Regio= n on Wednesday took another step towards taking health delivery to the door=

steps of its rural communities with the inauguration of another CHPS compound at Guo. This brings to eight the number of functional CHPS compounds, out of=

the twenty-two that were earmarked for implementation in the CHPS program= me in the district.

Mr. Cyprian Douchebe, the Lawra District Coordinating Director who inaugurated the facility, expressed concern about the inadequate number o= f health personnel in the district and pledged the Assembly's support in th= at direction. According to him, the Assembly would from next year give financial support to thirty health trainees made up of six midwives, 17 Registered General Nurses, two Community Health Nurses, four Health Assistants and o= ne Community Medicine Student. The Coordinating Director further stressed that the Assembly was committed to developing the health sector, and would therefore work tirelessly to ensure that those communities that do not have such facilit= ies get them. Mr. Douchebe hinted that three more CHPS compounds would be provided= by the Assembly next year, adding that, preventive health delivery was the better alternative. He noted that all their efforts towards making health care accessibl= e to the poor in the district were being threatened by the HIV/AIDS pandemi= c and advised the people especially the youth, to abstain from sexual promiscuity in order to stay healthy.

Dr. Sebastian N. Sandaare, the acting Director of Health Services, Lawra District, said CHPS facilities would always function best, if there=

was the political will to support active community involvement, inter-sec= tor collaboration and the use of appropriate technology. He commended the Assembly, the sponsors and the community for their active support towards the establishment of the facility, and promised th= at he and his staff would also ensure effective primary health delivery in t= he district. Dr. Sandaare also noted that the Lawra hospital was committed to providing quality health care for the people and in that sense, the hospi= tal has renovated the general ward at the cost of 37,537.69 Ghana cedis from its Internally Generated Funds (IGF). "It is the hospital's intention to allocate 10 percent of its IGF for=

upgrading of some parts of the hospital that are not in good shape", he said.

Dr. Sandaare who is also the Medical Superintendent at the hospital said the provision of a generator by Ministry of Health for the hospital,=

has helped to address the problem of intermittent power outages. He said 84 per cent of the people in the district were covered by th= e National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and this according to him was encouraging and urged the people to continue to register. The CHPS compound facility which was constructed at the cost of 30,0= 00 Ghana cedis was sponsored by the European Commission and supported by Jap= an International Cooperation Action (JICA).