CHIPS Centre commisioned in Builsa

Sandema (U/E), Aug. 31, GNA - Mr Thomas Alonsi, Builsa District Chief Executive (DCE), at the weekend commissioned a 219 million cedi Community Based Health Planning and Services Centre (CHIPS) and a borehole at Namonsa in the Builsa District of the Upper East Region. Commissioning the project, the DCE urged the communities to take good care of the Centre and the nurse.

He urged the members of the communities to patronise the CHIPS projects to address their health needs.

The Social Investment Fund (SIF) with funding from the Ghana Government, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund executed the project.

The DCE said Government was committed to providing quality health services to Ghanaians and that it was in line with this that the government in collaboration with the UNDP had initiated the CHIPS programme on a pilot basis in most communities in the country.

Mr Alonsi indicated that for the successful implementation of the CHIPS, the programme had been designed in such a way that the health provider or the nurse stayed in the community at all times so that "he or she is available for the provision of services as and when needed." He said the main objective of the programme was to promote preventive healthcare and urged the people to patronise the CHIPS Centre. "Be sure to report early at the health centre at all times to avoid any complications", he advised.

The Project Officer of SIF in the Upper East Region, Mr Damien Asobayire, announced that the vision of the SIF was to fight against poverty in Ghana especially in the urban areas.

Mr Asobayire stated that the SIF had so far established 72 projects in the areas of education, sanitation, nutrition, forestation, rural infrastructure and agricultural development among others at the cost of about 8 billion cedis in the Upper East Region.