The Rotary Club of Sunyani East has handed over medical equipment to the St. Mathias Catholic Hospital at Yeji in the Pru East District of the Bono East Region.

The items cost a total of $42,858.

This usual benevolence was made possible with the assistance of the Rotary Foundation and Rotarians around the world.

According to Eric Adu-Gyamfi, President of Rotary Club of Sunyani East, they conceived the idea of resourcing the facility in 2017 in a bid to support the government in the provision of quality and efficient health care delivery system, particularly infant and maternal care.

The equipment provided are two infant incubators, a Radiant Heater (for infants) and a fully automated Biochemistry Analyser. The rest are a binocular microscope, an autoclave top load 50L and a ceiling-mounted LED surgical operating light.

Ahead of a short ceremony to hand over the equipment, Adu-Gyamfi said the health sector requires a lot of investments to ensure proper health care delivery.

“There are new threats, emergencies and unfamiliar cases that require equally sophisticated equipment and we are helping because we believe the government alone cannot meet the huge gap that exists in several health care facilities in Ghana.

“Under no circumstances should a mother die in labour or a newborn baby die for lack of incubators”, he said.

He encouraged NGOs and other well-meaning Ghanaians, both at home and abroad, to join the fight against maternal and infant mortality, which finds expression in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) three.

“As part of Rotary Foundation Global Grant, we shall be demanding regular updates on the equipment and therefore urge the Hospital’s management and staff to take very good care of the equipment to the benefit of all patients”, he stressed.

Bono East and Ahafo Regional Health Director Dr Kofi Issah, in appreciating the efforts of Rotary Club, reiterated that, Universal health coverage cannot be attained if access to health care remains a challenge.

He, therefore, called on the government and other stakeholders to ensure health facilities in remote areas also get their fair share of state of the art equipment. This he says will reduce pressure on regional hospitals.

He advised the hospital staffs to accord respect to everyone who walks in to seek health care either for themselves or for others.

The administrator of the hospital, Rev Sister Parisuddam, said they handle about 85,000 OPD cases a year and serves as a referral centre for patients from Pru West, Atebubu Amantin, Sene West districts and beyond. She appealed for more support to enable them to provide holistic services to their clients.

On his part, the District Chief Executive for Pru East, Joshua Kwaku Abonkra described the donation as timely, adding, “the medical equipment will ease the pressure on us and we say thank you Rotary Club of Sunyani”.

In the last seven months, Rotary Club of Sunyani has also donated medical equipment worth $100,000 to seven districts hospitals, commissioned 41 microflush bio-fill toilets in two districts at Gh¢53,000, provided a 6-unit ultra-modern classroom block at a cost of $97,000 in Tain and rehabilitated a health center and provided medical equipment worth GH¢65,352 at Antwikrom near Sunyani, all in the erstwhile Brong Ahafo Region.