Mefe Agorkpoe residents cry for primary health facilities

Residents of Mefe Agorkpoe and surrounding communities in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region are grappling with severe challenges in accessing basic healthcare, as the nearest health facility is located more than 20 kilometres away.

For many, particularly pregnant women and the sick, the journey to seek medical attention has become a dangerous and exhausting ordeal.

The situation is further compounded by the absence of motorable roads and bridges, forcing residents to navigate muddy paths and cross overflowing rivers, especially during the rainy season, often at great risk to their lives.

When Citi News visited the community, 16-year-old Seyram Avu was in labour, struggling to access healthcare.

With no immediate means of transport, she was forced to walk for more than 20 minutes in pain before benevolent residents intervened and helped convey her to the nearest clinic.

In this remote enclave, pregnant women in labour and critically ill patients are frequently carried in makeshift hammocks by relatives and community members across long distances and treacherous terrain.

With no proper roads, access to vehicles is nearly impossible, leaving residents to rely on physically demanding and unsafe alternatives.

Residents say these delays in reaching healthcare facilities have had devastating consequences.

Some patients deteriorate along the journey, while others, they lament, do not survive the ordeal.

– Citi News