Lack Of Water Affecting Health Care Delivery At Anwomaso Community Clinic

Lack of potable water at the Anwomaso community clinic in the Ashanti region is hampering quality health delivery in the area.

Health workers say they are compelled to ask patients in labour to carry water from their homes to the clinic before delivery.

The challenge, according to the midwifery officer Mary Salifu, has resulted in low patronage of the facility by residents.

“What we do here is that, whenever someone comes to deliver we ask the person or her relatives to bring water along because we don’t have water in the facility. Our nurses here sometimes have to trek for about a kilometer to the Anwomaso township to fetch water  for patients who are not residents of the community in order to administer health services ” Mrs Salifu said.

The laborious situation, according to the midwife of the health centre, is having a toll on quality health care delivery.

The Anwomaso community clinic is the only public health centre serving the health needs of residents of Anwomaso and five other surrounding communities.

The clinic used to record a daily average of 15 patients but since the breakdown of its water system a year ago, most residents have stopped patronizing the facility because patients who come for delivery are required to bring water from their home to the clinic.

“The absence of water has really affected patronage in this facility. The facility used to conduct not less than five deliveries in a week but now the maximum deliveries we conduct in a month is two”.

Mrs. Salifu wants the government, NGOs, and individuals to assist the clinic in fixing the damaged mechanized borehole, which has been estimated to cost Ghc 3000, or provide them with a new one.

This she said will help them to effectively serve the health needs of patrons of the facility because water plays a central role in the activities of every health facility.

But until the broken water system is fixed, providing quality health services to patients will continue to be a herculean task for the health workers of the Anwomaso community clinic.

Story by : Ibrahim Abubakar, Kumasi