By Rashid Mbugri, GNA,
Tamale, Dec 3, GNA - Northern Regional Branch of Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health (GCNH) has appealed to both international and national agencies for funding support to help deliver on its mandate of advocating equal access to healthcare services.
The Coalition specifically named the Northern Region, where it said, faced with multiple health problems and required maximum attention to influence policies on health.
"The coalition lacks funds to empower its members, among others, to carry out advocacy and outreach programmes to address barriers in accessing healthcare services,” Mr Cletus Zume, the Northern Regional Chairman of GCNH said.
He made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the coalition's Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Tamale.
The meeting brought together members to deliberate on the Coalition's activities, successes, challenges and way forward.
It was on the theme: "Sustainable Health Delivery in Northern Region, The Role of Northern Regional Branch of the Coalition of NGOs in Health."
Mr Zume cited an instance, where the regional branch intended to carry out an advocacy and awareness creation on adolescent reproductive health and hepatitis B in rural communities, but could not get funding to do it.
Access to quality healthcare services is considered important for national populations under the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly on goal three.
Mr Zume reminded members of their vision to achieve a nation free of diseases and ill-health that required members to influence health policies positively to ensure quality service delivery.
Out of a total membership of 417 across the country, active membership of the coalition hovered around 32 in Northern region.
But the figure is expected to be spilt among the newly created regions; North East and Savannah.
According to Mr Zume, the coalition received some support from some benevolent agencies, but still needed more funds to be effective.
The support by Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) project was hailed for providing vaccines for immunisation against killer diseases within five districts in Northern region.
He enumerated some challenges Northern Chapter of the coalition was facing which included; lack of access to funding, capacity to develop funding proposals, delay by members in paying dues.
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