Volta Region: Korean agency donates tricycle ambulances to help improve maternal healthcare

As part of an ongoing project in four selected districts in the Volta region, the Korean Foundation for International Health Care (KOFIH) has donated six Tricycle Ambulances and 19 motorbikes to four districts to help improve health delivery especially in the area of maternal healthcare.

The beneficiary districts are Hohoe Municipality, Krachie West, Krachie Nchumuru,  and Afadjato South Districts.

The mortorbikes are expected to be used for home visits immunization as parts of outreach programmes of the Ghana Health Service.

According to the Volta Regional Director of Health Joseph Teye-Nuertey, the motorcycles will give a great boost to the efforts of the Health facilities in the various districts to reduce maternal mortality rates in the various districts.

At the handing over ceremony at the Medical Stores in Ho, the Country Director of Korean Foundation for  International Health care, Dong Hoon Yang urged health authorities in the region to use the tricycle ambulances and the motorbikes for their intended purposes.

Access to health facilities by pregnant women has been a major challenge to the health delivery system in rural communities especially in the northern part of the Volta Region.

The distance between  villages and nearest health facilities coupled with the nature of roads have affected health delivery efforts of the authorities in the Volta region for years.

Bicycles are most of the times used to transport women in labor to the nearest health facilities. Most of these women develop complications in the course of their journey to the health facilities.

In 2014, the Volta region recorded 82 maternal deaths. This is an increase over the 2013 figure of 72 deaths. 

This, according to the Volta regional Director of Health Dr. Teye-Nuertey is unacceptable at a time when the country is racing against time to achieve the  Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).