Four health facilities in the Upper East Region have received Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure from WaterAid Ghana, a WASH focused organisation. The health facilities were Kongo Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compound, Basyonde Health Centre in the Tempane District, the Tilli and Songo Health Centres respectively in the Bawku West and Garu Districts. The Kongo, Tilli and Songo facilities received integrated solar powered mechanised water system each, for their operations and provide extended services to their communities. Additionally, each received a disability and gender sensitive seven-unit bio-digester water-closet toilet facility including laundry area for the maternity wards. The Basyonde Health Centre, however, benefitted from a 4.5 cubic meter double chamber incinerator to facilitate proper disposal of medical waste. The support formed part of the Enhancing Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (ENWASH) project, funded by United States Agency for International Develop ment (USAID), and being implemented in partnership with Global Communities. Ms Ewurabena Yanyi-Akofur, the Country Director, WaterAid Ghana, said the support formed part of the Organisation's on-going efforts to improve healthcare delivery through sustainable access to WASH services. 'The ENWASH project aims to address critical gaps in WASH services, particularly in rural areas where access remains unequal,' she said. The Country Director said while about 68 per cent of healthcare facilities in Ghana had access to safe water, significant disparities persisted, with many of them still relying on community boreholes or had no access to sanitation services at all. Ms Yanyi-Akofur stressed that this posed serious risks to maternal and child health, as well as the overall healthcare quality for the people particularly the vulnerable. 'Inadequate WASH services have been linked to maternal deaths and stagnant neonatal mortality rates. 'To achieve the desired reduction in neonatal deaths, we must ensure that he althcare facilities, especially those where women give birth, have access to clean water, proper sanitation, and hygiene services,' she advocated. Mr Eugene Osei Yeboah, the Tempane District Director, Ghana Health Service, thanked WaterAid Ghana and its partners for the support and indicated that it would significantly boost healthcare delivery and improve upon the wellbeing of the people. He said the Tempane district was one of the most deprived districts in the region in terms of health infrastructure particularly in WASH facilities and expressed hope that the support would enhance infection prevention and control. Dr Samuel Kwabena Boakye-Boateng, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, lauded the efforts of WaterAid Ghana and its partners for the facilities and charged the health workers to ensure the facilities were maintained to last long. Mr Issaka Anabila, the Tempane District Chief Executive, said ensuring quality healthcare was a collective responsibility and commended the WaterAid Ghana for complementing government's efforts in healthcare delivery and asked for maintenance system to ensure maximum impact. Naba Abubakar Amoah Duut, the Chief of Kongo, said the area had a population of about 8,000 people and appealed to the Tempane District Assembly, to upgrade the Kongo CHPS compound into a health centre and provide another healthcare facility for the area to help improve quality health service delivery, especially around maternal and child health. Source: Ghana News Agency