Six coastal districts get 62 CHPS zones
One thousand one hundred and thirty-five health personnel have been trained to manage 62 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) zones in six coastal districts in the Western Region.
Advertisement
The six coastal districts are Shama, Ellembelle, Jomoro, Ahanta West, Nzema East and Sekondi-Takoradi.
The training was conducted by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with Jhpiego, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with sponsorship from the Jubilee Partners.
The beneficiaries of the training programme were 321 community health officers (CHOs),413 community health management committees (CHMCs) and 401 community health volunteers (CHVs).
Under a five-year project dubbed: “STAR CHPS,” which started in 2011, the health personnel received training on the CHPS compounds to improve quality and basic primary health care.
The CHPS system, operated by the Ghana Health Service (GHS), is an innovative, primary health care service delivery system that includes a health compound which provides outreach services to surrounding communities.
The integrated and holistic system improves the quality of health care services in respect of malaria control, antenatal care, family planning, immunisation, growth monitoring and basic out-patient care.
Technical support
By June 2016, the project, which had provided enormous technical support to strengthen and revitalise the 62 CHPS zones, had reached a total of 801, 684 individuals. It had also strengthened and supported district health management teams (DHMTs) in the target areas.
The project was carried out through the use of a Jhpiego-developed quality improvement tool known as Standards-based Management and Recognition (SBM-R).
Through the SBM-R, which is a practical approach to improving the performance and quality of health care services through the provision of basic training and use of special designed tools, the project facilitated National Insurance Authority (NHIA) accreditation of over 59, out of the 62 CHPS zones.
Recognition/Awards
As part of activities to mark the end of the project, a ceremony was held in Takoradi last Thursday to recognise and award CHPS facilities, district health directorates, CHVs, CHMCs, individuals and organisations who had excelled in the implementation of the CHPS concept.
The Nzema Akropong CHPS facility emerged the overall best facility and received the gold award of a motorbike, a desktop computer and a printer, followed by the Kojokrom CHPS zone, which took the silver award of a motorbike, a desktop computer and a scanner.
Nana Adu Kwaw
The Anfo CHPS zone in Shama placed third and took the bronze prize of a desktop computer and a motorbike while individuals, including the chief of Nzema Akropong, Nana Adu Kwaw II, and organisations who were also recognised, received certificates of honour.
In an address, the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Emmanuel Appiah-Denkyira, commended the participants for taking on active part in the project, especially the Nzema Akropong chief for single-handedly constructing a CHPS facility at his backyard, Jhpiego for providing supportive and technical assistance and the Jubilee partners for sponsoring the project.
The Western Regional Director of the GHS, Dr Emmanuel Kwadwo Tinkorang, underscored the importance of the CHPS compounds which were providing immense healthcare delivery in communities across the country.