District Director of Ghana Health Service (GHS) for Kassena-Nankana West in Upper East Region, Hypolite Yeleduor has identified illegal routes and unclear boundary demarcation as a major hurdle pulling the strings in their fight against Coronavirus in that area.
Kassena-Nankana West District shares borders with neighboring Burkina Faso in the Upper East Region with so many unapproved routes into Ghana. This situation has made it difficult to fully implement the border closure directive by President Nana Akufo-Addo in the curb of Coronavirus spread.
Mr. Yeledour said it has been a herculean task for him and his team heavies there is pressure on health facilities in the district since foreigners cross borders to seek healthcare. By so doing, the limited resources have made them incapacitated to adequately administer health care to patients.
He also lamented that unavailability of Personal Protective Equipment has exposed health workers to avoidable hazards and appealed to government to frequent supplies in other to whip up their motivation to work.
“Having a close border with the neighboring Burkina Faso, makes it more riskier to the people of Kassena-Nankana West District because there were no clear boundaries between Burkina Faso and the District”. He lamented.
According to the District Health Director, the fight against the deadly coronavirus will be meaningless, if the entire population were not complying with the stipulated preventive directives.
“There is no one who has not heard of the messages of Covid-19 and there is no one who is resisting the directive to comply with the preventive measures” he added.
The district has recorded a total of 10 suspected cases which 2 results received so far have tested negative.
Mr. Yeledour was speaking in an interview with the media after a donation of medical items from Member of Parliament for Chiana-Paga Constituency, Rudolf Nsorwine Amenga-etego. Mr. Yeledour expressed gratitude to the MP for his intervention to protect health workers in the District. He was convinced that with the receipt of the preventive materials, it will make a great impact in their fight against COVID-19 in the Constituency.
Spokesperson for the MP, Adagwine Castro who handed over the PPEs to the Health Directorate on behalf of Mr. Amenga-etego impressed upon the health workers to use the items judiciously.
“If you are going to war and you don’t arm your frontliners, they will easily be defeated” he said.
The items donated includes; 40 Veronica buckets with stands, 500 pcs of hand sanitizers, 300 pcs of surgical nose masks, 100 pcs Reusable nose masks, 162 pcs of tissue papers, 300 carbolic soaps, 10 packets disposable gloves, and an undisclosed amount of cash to facilitate movements of the COVID-19 task force.
Source:A1radioonline.com| Chidozie Stephen