PERSONS residing in the villages of Koko and Wallaba in the Moruca sub-district, Region One, are now enjoying improved access to health services, following the official reopening of the upgraded health posts in both areas.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, visited the Barima-Waini district on Wednesday to spearhead the groundbreaking ceremonies.

Dr Anthony noted that, with the medical facilities now upgraded and services expanded, more persons will now be trained to complement the workforce.

Against this backdrop, the health minister urged people to take up training opportunities in the health sector to become community health workers, nursing assistants, or professional nurses.
“We want to improve health in our country. We want to improve health in Region One, and so we want to spend our resources on upgrading all the facilities that we have in Region One, regardless of how small it is. We want to make sure that it is upgraded so it can serve the community,” he stated.

The minister also urged parents to ensure their children take advantage of the comprehensive School Health Programme that targets school children.

The initiative is designed to protect and promote the health and well-being of learners and staff which traditionally included health services, a healthy school environment, and health education.

“Nursery school children, primary school children, we want to check their eyes, we want to check their hearing, we want to check their mouth to make sure they don’t have any rotten teeth and of course, we want to do a general checkup so that if we find anything early, we can fix it early” he emphasised.

Teams will also be in the communities to conduct eye tests and vouchers will be given for persons to test their eyes.

“We want to ensure that people’s health is taken care of and that we bring the services closer to you,” Dr Anthony asserted.

Meanwhile, Regional Vice Chairperson, Annansha Peters, noted that the school in Wallaba will also be repaired and a water system will be installed soon, as the government continues to deliver its promises to the people. (DPI)