Health Centre receives bamboo bicycle ambulances

The Dawea Community Health Centre in the Sekyere Afram Plains District has been presented with two locally-designed bamboo bicycle ambulances to help transport women in labour quickly to health facilities.

These were gifts from “Bright Generation Community Foundation” (BGCF) a project, dedicated to the building of bikes locally using bamboo as the main raw material.

 It is being supported by the AU Fund for African Women, as part of the campaign to fight against maternal and child deaths.

Ms. Mabel Suglo, the Programmes Coordinator, said they were in no doubt that these ambulances would help prevent delays and cut down cost of transporting women in labour to the facility.

They would be most useful given the deprived nature of the District, she noted, adding that, deliberate efforts would be made to promote its patronage.

She said research had shown that about 80 per cent of maternal deaths could be prevented if women are able to access essential maternity and basic healthcare services and it is on the basis of this that the donation must be seen as a right step.

MrsBernice Dapaah-Kyei, Executive Director of the BGCF, said another eight bamboo ambulances would soon be donated to health centres in other hard-to-reach communities.

They would work closely with the beneficiary facilities to make sure these were properly maintained to make them last.

She expressed worry about the situation, where people travelled over 16 kilometres to access healthcare and said, things really could be dire in times of an emergency.

Mrs. Elizaberth Sarfo Addo, District Health Director, said they were grateful for the gesture and reminded pregnant women to regularly attend pre-natal and antenatal clinic.

Source: GNA