gms | German Medical Science

Since the Alma Ata declaration in 1978, Primary Health Care (PHC) had been considered the most significant vehicle to achieve Universal Health Coverage. In 1998, Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) was introduced by Ghana as a driving force for PHC. This was later revised to Community-Based Health Planning and Services Plus (CHPS)+ in 2017. The emphasis was to bring health services closer to the doorsteps of individuals in the communities. Despite the successes of CHPS in reducing infant, child and maternal mortalities through increased access to immunisation, increased breastfeeding, reduced waterborne diseases, and Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), the country is far from its expected targets. However, healthcare is a basic human right that many do not get to enjoy, simply because of their geographical location. Driven by the desire to give back, the Health for all Foundation which is a group of young people from different professional backgrounds commit to breaking these “geographical borders” and causing these people to smile. The group organised health outreaches and community support to hard-to-reach communities with no basic health facilities. Two of these communities were Akposo-Okrabe in the Oti Region and Havorkorfe in the Eastern Region of Ghana. These areas had very little or no communication access, education is usually a challenge, they have poor access to safe water and have difficulty in accessing transport to the nearest health facility. In Okrabe for example cases, they had to walk for over an hour to the nearest community to be able to get a mode of transport which is often not readily available. In Havorkorfe, they cross Volta Lake with commercial wooden boats without life jackets and when you miss it you may have to chatter one. Fundraising is based on voluntary contribution and social media drive. The health outreach basically focuses on children, adolescents and pregnant women as well as vulnerable groups such as the aged, and adults with Diabetes, Hypertension and other chronic illnesses. The group screen for malaria, Anaemia, skin infections, HIV, immunization status, provide first aid treatments, Antenatal services, education on early identification of danger signs, first aid, CPR and wound dressing among others. The community support programmes cover donations of educational materials, insecticide-treated nets, decent clothes and footwear for children, and skills training.

Lessons learnt: These communities have good health-seeking behaviours, unfortunately access is still a challenge. This is compounded by the educational and social inequalities that exist in these communities. A large part of these communities and are mostly peasant farmers hence have no access to National Health Insurance. The cost of treatment coupled with transport mostly results in unapproved herbal management until complications set in.