It has been reported on Ghanaweb (3rd September 2020 edition) that a man alleged his wife buried their new baby girl alive due to poverty.
As a social protection expert, I am inclined to believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg due to lack of robust primary health care and social protection systems in Ghana.
It is for this reason I think President’s John Mahama’s proposed Primary Health Care System could be the panacea to averting such unfortunate and tragic incidents. What is the Primary Health Care System?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Primary health care is a whole-of-society approach to health and well-being centred on the needs and preferences of individuals, families and communities.
It addresses the broader determinants of health and focuses on the comprehensive and interrelated aspects of physical, mental and social health and wellbeing.
The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC)/National Democratic Congress (NDC) political tradition is a pacesetter when it comes to the provision of primary health care in Ghana. In early 1990’s the PNDC government under the able and visionary leadership Chairman Flt Lt John Jerry Rawlings secured funding from the UK government for the National Service Scheme (NSS) to train national service personnel in primary care health delivery and community work, and then be posted to serve in our rural and deprived communities.
I was a beneficiary of such training and I was posted to a village called Zabulga in the Pusiga District in the Upper East Region for my “A” Levels national service.
Under President John Mahama’s proposed primary health care system; multidisciplinary teams consisting of midwifery services, community nursing, mental health, dieticians and social welfare/social workers and other stakeholders would be set up for delivery of primary health care and social protection services across the length and breadth of Ghana.
May I humbly appeal to Ghanaians to vote massively for President John Mahama and NDC’s parliamentary candidates on 7th December 2020 for a fit for purpose primary health care system in Ghana? This is because our health matters and a healthy population equals a healthy economy.
Thanks
Alhaji Alhassan Mbalba
Chairman
NDC-UK/Ireland Chapter
Source: Thepressradio.com|Ghana|Dickson Boadi
