It is appropriate to equip hospitals with vaccine fridges to store medicines at required temperatures to maintain their potency.

However, this cannot be said about some health facilities in the Yendi Municipality as they lack such vital equipment.

The GNA has learned that Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compounds located at Kuni, Gbungbaliga, Kamshegu, Kpanjamba, Motondo and Waleyipala in the Yendi Municipality do not have their vaccine fridges.

They, therefore, store their vaccines with health facilities at Adibo, Bunbon, Gnani, Yendi Central, Yendi East, and Yendi West Sub-districts and collect them when the need arises.

Besides lack of vaccine fridges, two other CHPS Compounds located at Kulkpanga and Oseido communities in the Municipality are not connected to the national grid and cannot store their own drugs.

The GNA understands that most of these CHPS Compounds run on low budgets, and those without vaccine fridges sometimes find it difficult to travel to those that have vaccine fridges to collect their stored drugs, a situation, which is affecting health care delivery in the Municipality.

The Yendi Municipal Disease Control Officer, Mr Ansah Clifford, acknowledged the situation in an interview with the GNA, saying CHPS compounds without vaccine fridges spent a lot on fuel to travel to others that have the fridges to collect their stored drugs.

According to the 2020 annual performance review, the Yendi Municipality had 31 demarcated and operational CHPS zones out of which 13 had compounds.

This implies that a large proportion of the population in the area travelled more than eight kilometres to access health care, which is not acceptable under the country’s health policy.

CHPS Compounds form the first layer of health facilities located in the communities, and they are the first port of call for community members seeking health care.

They are critical in health care delivery in the country as they attend to most ailments of the people, including providing maternal care.

Some residents of the communities, who spoke to GNA about the situation, could not tell the effects of the lack of vaccine fridges at the CHPS Compounds on health care delivery in the areas but said it was not the best.

A resident of Gbungbaliga, Mr Yakubu Alhassan, was not happy about the situation, saying the critical roles played by CHPS Compounds in health care delivery in the country must be enough reason to adequately equip them to perform their duties.

They, therefore, called on the government to help improve health care delivery in their communities.