AMBULANCE GIFT TO NKORANZA HEALTH CENTRE (PAGE 58)

The Nkoranza Kroye Kuo in Italy has donated an ambulance valued at €20,000 to the Nkoranza Health Centre in the Brong Ahafo Region at a brief ceremony in the town.
The donation of the vehicle was through a collaboration between the Nkoranza citizens, the International Association of Humanitarian Medicine (IAHM) and friends of the group, African Libra, both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Italy .
Mr Osei Sarfo-Kantanka, chairman of the union, who handed over the vehicle, disclosed that the group, which was formed in 1992, had already presented beds and other hospital equipment to the health centre at a cost of €15,000, as well as 10,000 exercise books, to basic school pupils at Nkoranza, which also cost €1,800.
He cautioned that the ambulance was not meant to serve as a shuttle for staff at the centre but was particularly to provide ambulance service to patients within Nkoranza and its environs, and also advised the authorities at the hospital to ensure a regular maintenance to prolong its lifespan.
Receiving the keys to the vehicle, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Nkoranza, Mr James Kwabena Appiah Awuah, also disclosed that the IAHM had provided €3,000 towards the renovation of the maternity block and another €3,000 for the purchase of office equipment.
He also disclosed that one Christiana Malaguti, a native of Busunya near Nkoranza, and her husband, Marino Malaguti, Chairman of the African Libra, had established a clinic at Nkoranza where patients were treated free of charge, and that the couple’s NGO had also constructed a kindergarten block at Busunya.
The DCE used the occasion to appeal to the people of Nkoranza to live in unity and harmony, especially in the run-up to the December elections and also to enable them to benefit from infrastructural development in the town and its environs.
The Medical Assistant at the centre, Mr Sylvanus Be-lr, indicated that with the operation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), attendance at the centre continued to increase, especially at the Outpatients Department (OPD), and therefore appealed for immediate expansion at the centre.
Okatakyie Agyeman Kudom IV, Omanhene of the Nkoranza Traditional Area and President of the Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, who chaired the function, expressed his profound gratitude and appreciation to members of the Kroyekuo and urged them to sustain such assistance to Nkoranzaman.