In order to enhance healthcare service, Ussif Mustapha, a member of parliament for the Yagaba Kubori seat and minister for youth and sports, has donated an ambulance to the Yizesi health center in the Mamprugu Moadiri district.
The ambulance, donated on 28 May, is the second to be presented to the facility after vice president Mahamudu Bawumia donated the first ambulance in 2016. It developed a fault in 2017 but has since not been repaired.
The minister said three communities – Kubori, Laogri and Kunkua – will also receive an ambulance each. This is his own initiative. He urged residents to ensure that the ambulance serves its intended purpose.
With the new ambulance, residents do not have to travel over 60km on motorbikes and tricycles for referral services.
Residents were happy to receive the ambulance following many appeals to the district assembly. A senior youth leader, Abdulai Yussifu Danso, expressed joy saying two of his relatives had suffered health complications due to the absence of an ambulance in the facility.
He said, “I am very happy that we now have an ambulance… My sister, Arasi, was in labour with twins. When we sent her to the Yizesi health centre only one baby survived.
“The nurses did their best but after several hours, the second labour was not setting in. The nurses asked us to call an ambulance. By the time it arrived, my sister had had a stillbirth.”
The district health director, Bukari Adam, who received the ambulance said the district had been struggling with referral of labour cases but that will now be a thing of the past.
He said, “I feel great for receiving this ambulance because it is huge relief to healthcare delivery here. Most of our referrals come late in the night around 1am to 3am. When we call for nearby ambulance services, they don’t want to attend to us sometimes. So, most of the time, we struggle to refer cases, especially labour cases in the night.”