For the next two and half years, the Sanwie community in the Jirapa district of the Upper West Region will serve as the grounds for the Community Benefits Health(CBH) projects, a pilot based project which is aimed at sensitizing communities to support individuals especially  women and children to access quality healthcare service

Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Abu Kabiebata Kansangbata in an address to launch the project stated that there is the need to support and sensitize the community members for them to know the importance of the project.

 He said such sentization will go a long way to complement the efforts been made by government to providing quality and affordable healthcare delivery for citizens of the country.  

He appealed to all stakeholders concerned to continue to find innovative ways to improve survival of mothers and children in the country

 “We need to support the community benefits health project and other similar projects. I want to call on our community and traditional rulers, youth groups and community volunteers to continue to support programs of his nature in order to ensure our mothers and children are saved from preventable deaths,’’ he added.

The project is currently working in 51 communities across the Wa West, Lambussie and Jirapa districts in the Upper West Region which comprises of 12 beneficiary communities, 22 messaging only communities as well as 17 control communities.

Local Non Governmental Organization, Pronet-North, is partnering Concern Worldwide, an international Non Governmental Organization to implement the project in the three district of the Upper West Region.

Upper West Regional director of the Ghana Health Services, Dr. Abdullai Fogoh in a speech read on his behalf said the project was in line strategic direction of improving geographical access to heath through community based health planning and services in which the community and household play very crucial roles.

He also praised Pronet-Noth for the efforts been made to improve healthcare in the region.

He however made the call for existing community heath structures to be efficiently and effectively used rather than the creating of new ones adding that different messages and structures will not foster and sustain community mobilization for health service delivery especially community -based  Health Planning and Services (CHPS) implementation.

Director of Pronet-Noth, Martin Dery expressed delight over the launch of the project adding that the little idea which was developed some time ago has successful in t realistic project

He however stressed that the CBH project was one with a difference.

‘’This is a pilot project and is also research based. It is not the typical project that we see every day that comes with activities and there is no systemic way of measuring what really comes with it,’’ he revealed.

An eight member committee governing body was inaugurated to oversee the success of the project in the community.