Wassa East launches free primary healthcare with health screening for staff

Wassa East District has officially been enlisted as one of five districts in the Western Region to benefit from the government's flagship Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) policy, with the District Chief Executive pledging the Assembly's unflinching support for its successful implementation.

The programme was launched at Daboase by Dr Nana Mireku Gyimah, the District Director of Health Services, before a distinguished gathering of traditional rulers, Queen Mothers, security personnel, health professionals, Assembly Members, heads of departments, and identifiable groups.

Mr Alhassan Ibrahim, the District Chief Executive and President's representative in the district, assured the gathering that the Assembly would provide the necessary logistical and administrative backing to ensure the policy fully merits the consideration given to Wassa East.

"We will not let this opportunity slip," Mr Ibrahim stated. "The Assembly stands ready to support every initiative that removes financial barriers to healthcare for our people."

The launch was interlaced with a free health screening exercise for staff of the assembly, offering blood pressure and blood sugar checks, Body Mass Index (BMI) assessment, as well as health education and counselling on lifeclass modification and disease prevention.

The exercise gave the staff firsthand experience of the services the FPHC policy seeks to institutionalise, shifting the health system from curative care to prevention and early detection.

The policy guarantees every resident access to essential primary health services, including screenings for hypertension, diabetes, cancer, maternal and child healthcare, immunisation, and treatment of common illnesses such as malaria without user fees at CHPS compounds, health centres, and polyclinics.

Speaker after speaker, including representatives of Nananom and Queen Mothers, pledged their support for the programme, calling on residents to take full advantage of the initiative.

The launch comes as part of the government's phased rollout of the Free Primary Healthcare policy, which seeks to drive out-of-pocket health spending below 20 per cent of total health expenditure and achieve 80 per cent Universal Health Coverage service coverage by 2030.

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