Upper West Regional minister, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, has appealed to medical practitioners who hail from the region and come back home and assist in saving the lives of the people.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Dr. Musheibu Mohammed Alfa, at the Upper West forum on Community-based Health and Planning Services (CHPS) in Wa, he expressed worry over the lack of critical medical staff at the various health facilities in the region.

The absence or inadequacy of these critical medical staff thus affects the management of complicated medical conditions, said the Minister.

Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani also used the opportunity to appeal to Municipal and District Assemblies in the region to continue to sponsor students in medical schools and bond them to serve for a limited period after completion of their studies.

This he said will go a long way to address the shortfall of medical doctors and save the lives of many people.

Turning to the CHPS forum, he stated that concept is community-driven and must supported to achieve its objectives.

He implored traditional rulers, opinion leaders and other stakeholders to mobilise their communities to render the needed support to the compound and also to show positive attitudes to the community health officers to make their stay comfortable, and to discharge their duties effectively.

‘‘I am aware of disputes over the siting of some of these facilities. I want to appeal to assemblies and all stakeholders to always amicably to resolve such differences to ensure the commencement and early competition of such projects", he added.

Upper West regional director of the Ghana Health Services, Dr. Abdulai Adam Forgor, stated that since the region embraced the concept of CHPS, the initiative has become a strong force in health care delivery in the region.

The region currently has a total of 241 demarcated CHPS zones with 148 being functional zones at the close of December 2014.

Dr. Forgor said there are a number of CHPS compounds that are currently under construction and the real gap in the delivery of compounds stood at 49 at the end of December 2014.

Out of a regional population of 757,010, the CHPS Strategy serves 319,544 representing 42.2%.