Accra, Jan. 24, - Ghana can now
boast of a transparent health monitoring mechanism, following the adoption and
signing on to the Community Scorecard (CSC).
The CSC, which is a
community-based qualitative monitoring tool, would enable communities to
scrutinize health projects at the local level monitor activities, performance
evaluation of services, projects and even government administrative units.
The CSC would also enhance
community engagement at all levels in relation to health.
Speaking at a stakeholders
meeting in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Emmanuel Ayire, the Programmes Manager at the
family Health Division, said Ghana was rolling out CSC, which was being
spearheaded by the Ghana Health Service (GHS), as part of the country’s
commitment of rolling out accountability, management and transparency tools in
the health sector to complement those of the United Nations.
He said every electoral area
would have a community health management committee with members going to assess
health service every quarter.
Mr Ayire mentioned respectful
care, waiting time and the rating of health service information that would be
useful for health decision making process to improve on the health service of
every area in Ghana as some of the works CSC would be doing.
“This is how the data collection
at the community level is going to be, every community member will be given
access so that they will know the rating that they did and will actually
reflect what is in the system,” he said.
“So when that is done, there will
be the need for further information on why that rating was done and that can be
discussed in the community health management committee meetings.
There will also be durbars that
will bring the community members together to discuss happenings in the
community,” he said.
Dr Isabella Sagoe-Moses, the
Deputy Director of Reproductive and Child Health Unit of the GHS, said the GHS
started running the SCS but it was mainly facility based for the past three
years.
She said, however, it had become
necessary to use it at the national level for community development.
Dr Sagoe-Moses explained that the
new approach had become necessary because it was the goal of health partners to
let communities communicate their needs and wants.
She said the engagement was
timely and an opportunity for stakeholders to take a look at what has been
developed and the indicators selected for inputs that that would be better for
all.
Dr Ernest Asiedu, the Coordinator
of Community and Institutional Care at the Ministry of Health, said Ghana’s
signing on to the CSC would create healthy competition in the health sector.
He said it was timely and
important and called for a collective approach towards the sustainability of
the project.
Mr Ketema Bizuneh, a
representative of Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), said the CSC would
focus on national priorities, provide strategies and roadmaps at the community
level.
Mr Bizuneh however noted that the
CSC was a dynamic tool that changes in line with strategic priorities.
According Mr Bizuneh, between
2012 and 2017, 29 countries had developed Score Cards (SC) with 25 countries at
the implementation stage of the SC for malaria control and elimination.
The day’s meeting which was
organised by the GHS brought together stakeholders in the health sector to
share, exchange and deliberate on issues that would help Ghana to understand
the global language of SC and its importance to nation development.
GNA
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