The Binaba Health Centre in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region is in a deplorable state with both building and furniture falling apart.
The roofs of the Maternity Block, Male Ward, Out Patient Department (OPD), consulting room, dressing room and health worker’s quarters leak during the rainy season, windows’ nets are torn and without louvre blades while most of the mattresses are old and the beds broken.
Out of the three vaccine refrigerators, two are broken down and only one serves the entire health centre.
Mr Peter Amoro, a Physician’s Assistant at the health centre, who showed the Ghana News Agency round the facility, complained about the poor infrastructure, saying, “We work here not because of our own comfort but for the sake of the patients.
“Many have refused posting to this facility for obvious reasons.”
The Centre is situated on a vast land with a broken fence, making it a resting place for animals, while patients sit around on the bare floor to wait for their turn for medical attention.
Madam Rahinatu Abdul-Mumuni, the resident midwife, said sterile instruments for deliveries usually got dusty before deliveries were conducted.
She explained that the facility had no pipe borne water and pregnant women and their relatives had to fetch water from a near-by borehole, which served the facility and some community members.
Mr Benjamin Aggrey, the District Health Director, noted that despite the deplorable state of the facility, no maternal death had been recorded since last year.
He stated: “The health centre would have eased the pressure and reduced the risk of transporting clients, especially pregnant women with complications, to the district hospital for management if given a face lift and upgraded to the status of a polyclinic with resident doctors and midwives.
However, he said, health personnel posted to the facility refused to work there and no attempt had been made by the District Assembly or the Member of Parliament for the area to rehabilitate the place even though they were aware of the situation.
Mr Simon Ayende Agbango, the District Chief Executive, said: “The health centre is part of the Assembly’s annual budget plan and a proposal has been made to the Minister of Finance,” he explained.
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