THE GOVERNMENT of Japan under the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGHSP) scheme has made available a grant of $112,101 to the Nadowli District Assembly for the construction of a Children�s Ward at the Nadowli District Hospital.
This project entails the building of a children�s ward with ancillary facilities furnished with medical beds and equipment.
After completion of the facility, it is expected to benefit over two hundred child patients every month thereby reducing infant mortality rates throughout the region as targeted in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
At the signing ceremony in Accra, Hisanobu Mochizuki Japanese Charg� d�Affaires said, �Nadowli District Hospital which serves as a referral centre for the largest district in the Upper West region is often pressurized by the influx of patients thus overstretching its limited infrastructure.�
He noted that currently child patients admitted are crowded in their wards with some sleeping on floors while recovering from their illnesses.
It is for this very reason that the Nadowli District Assembly highly recommended that a new ward be built to cater effectively for the needs of child patients, he said.
He noted that �the project will not be solely funded by the government of Japan but will also get some contribution from the Nadowli District Assembly.
�The Nadowli District Assembly shall support the building of this facility and provide medical beds and equipment.�
Mr. Mochizuki added that the government of Japan through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is embarking on the project scheduled for 2011 to 2016 to improve maternal and neonatal health services by utilizing the Community Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) system in the Upper West region.
�The Nadowli District Hospital and its new children�s ward will serve as a key referral facility for these CHPS compounds in the sub-districts,� he emphasized.
He said since the GGHSP scheme was set up in Ghana in 1989, it has funded a total of 228 projects nationwide and over 50 projects under the health sector alone.
He commended the Nadowli District Assembly, Nadowli District Hospital and all stakeholders on their efforts in making the project a reality.
�I encourage you to ensure the success of this initiative so that the children in Nadowli District can obtain the requisite health care needed to be able to contribute actively to the growth of this country,� he noted.
Abu K. Kasanbata, District Chief Executive of Nadowli District Assembly who signed on behalf of the district expressed his appreciation to the Embassy of Japan, for the kind gesture and compassion shown to the entire district.
He said the ward when completed will not only promote quality health care delivery at the district hospital as a referral point but also help to achieve the MDGs of reducing infant and maternal mortality in the district in particular and Ghana as a whole.
He thanked the Japanese Government for the generous offer and its efforts to improve the living conditions of �our people in the district.�
By Esther Awuah
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