MP for Chereponi take Steps to Boost Access to Healthcare in Constituency
In an effort to boost access to quality healthcare for his constituents, the Member of Parliament for Chereponi in the North East Region, Hon Abdul-Razak Tahidu, has committed over GHS20,000.00 of his MPs share of Social Investment Fund (SIF) to register children of age 17 years and below and the aged of 70 years and above onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Over 2000 Residents from about 183 farming communities are to benefit from the MP social intervention programme which is targeted at the most vulnerable children and the elderly.
Hon Tahidu, a member of the Trade and Industry and Subsidiary Committee of Parliament told EXPRESSNEWSGHANA, in an interview in parliament that the health needs of the constituents are his concern and that would continue to invest in health projects to boost healthcare delivery in the Constituency.
According to him, most of the communities within the Chereponi Constituency are without health facilities, and those that have been without enough staff and the requisite medical equipment.
He said as part of the effort, he has rehabilitated some of the CHPS Compounds, and provided two motorbikes to health fieldworkers and computers, among others to improve their work.
Hon Tahidu said the Chereponi constituency which is also a District has not got a District major hospital and residents relied on the only polyclinic and dotted CHPS Compound and Health [Posts for healthcare, saying, “The worst of all are the far distance communities where access to healthcare remains an optical illusion.”
“I was born in Chereponi, where I grew u, in school, become a teacher and worked, and later became the District Chief Executive. I know the people, I know and feel their pains and their difficulties in accessing health. So when I was elected in 2020, I made it clear that I will not sit in Accra, enjoying myself while the people who brought me to parliament suffer. So the little resources I have, I have to use them for their benefit.” Hon Tahidu said.
He assured the constituents of his fervent commitment to work hard to bring quality healthcare to their doorsteps
Apart from Registering the Constituents onto the NHIS, persons within the beneficiary ages but with expired cards are also entitled to renew them free through the MP programme.
He bemoaned the fact that Chereponi is one of the poorest constituencies in the region if not the country, yet successive governments failed or did little to improve primary healthcare, stressing that the few health facilities in the area needed financial and technical support to boost its healthcare delivery.
While expressing his profound gratitude to the people of Chereponi for electing him in the 2020 elections, Hon Razak as he is affectionately called, urged the residents to remain peaceful and co-existent and support him to bring the needed development.
He said without peace, there will be no development, emphasizing that no one from anywhere would make Chereponi great unless the people of Chereponi, hence the need for peace and unity among themselves.
Developing Chereponi, he added, is his utmost priority and would focus on other sectors, especially education, water, and agriculture investment, stressing that, he had drilled some boreholes and effort is being made to drill more to provide clean drinking water for the people.
The MP also called on the youth in the constituency, especially those in schools at various levels to take up their education seriously for it is the only means by which they could rise up to break the barriers of poverty, and unemployment and bring development to their communities.
He again affirmed his commitment to continue to work hard to upgrade the existing schools and health care infrastructure across the constituency, whilst lobbying the government and other donor agencies for those communities that do not have any.
Hon Tahidu also urged the government and the North East Regional Health Directorate to invest more in health security through the provision of health infrastructure and training of more health workers.
The population of Chereponi District is over 53,394 representing 5.2 percent with the Female population constituting little over 50.9 percent and males representing about 49.1 percent. Eighty-five percent of the population lives in rural localities with a sex ratio of 96.4.
The population of the district is youthful (50.3% of persons below 15 years old) depicting a broad base population pyramid that tapers off with a small proportion (5.6%) of elderly persons (60 years and older). The total age dependency ratio for the District is 118.7. The age dependency ratio for rural localities is higher (126.4) compared to that for urban localities (83.2) of the district.
The Chereponi District shares boundaries with four Districts: Gushegu District to the West; Bunkpurugu -Yunyoo District to the North; Saboba and Yendi Districts to the South-West and The Republic of Togo and to the East is bordered by River Oti.
Source: expressnewsghana.com
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