Written By: Mac Samah
Leewehpea, Nimba County – Nimba County, the second most populated county next to Montserrado County has 71 functional clinics – public and private – serving the population of more than 400,000 inhabitants.
Despite the number of health facilities, experts and locals continue to emphasize the need for government to improve the health delivery system in this part of the country. And the recent opening of a new clinic in the county signifies the continue effort to improve health care delivery in Nimba County.
In the township of Kpallah, Leewehpea Administrative District, a self-help community clinic was recently opened to the public by the Nimba county Health Team in collaboration with the office of the Representative of District #8 and the county adminstration.
Kpallah Township located 15 kilometers away from Karnwee Clinic on the Ganta-Saclepea Highway will now have access to a new clinic. The clinic project discribes as a community’s own initiative started in early 2000 without the consent of the county health team. Later, US$ 10,000 was alloted from the County’s social development fund to complete the clinic project.
After years of delays it was recently opened following constant appeals by locals to health authorities in the county. The clinic will now serve over 4,000 people in the district and other parts of the county. Due to the population of the township and towns in its proximity, government considered the need to open the clinic with an initial pick-up load of assorted medical equipment and drugs.
Speaking at the opening of the health facility, the County Health Officer, Dr. Collins Bowah expressed hope that the clinic will be used as the community’s owned facility to provide proper health care to residents of the community. He asked community dwellers to put their health first and help work for the sucess of the clinic. According to Dr. Bowah, the clinic can be used for the prevention and treatment of diseases.
For his part, the assigned Officer In-Charge (OIC) of the clinic, Victor Genseh – a Physician Assistant – expressed gratitude for the assignment and discribed it as a challenge which he said is not strange to his career. He however, vowed to work diligently.
Meanwhile, citizens of Kpallah Township through District Commissioner, G. Nya Dakiayee, commended the county authority and the county health team for the level of leadership exercised for the construcion and opening of the clinic.
