The shipment to Wechiau is particularly exciting because the supplies and equipment that MedPLUS sent will be distributed to health centers and CHPS compounds (small community health centers) all through the district. CHPS compounds are staffed by a community health worker, and aim to bring primary healthcare, including deliveries and malaria care, to within close distance of all rural communities. I am proud to contribute to Ghana Health Service’s commitment to bringing healthcare to underserved areas of Ghana and hope that MedPLUS’s contribution will help to reduce child and maternal mortality in these vulnerable communities!

Taking a Pick-up Truck of Supplies to a CHPS Compound

I accompanied the first pick-up truck load to a remote CHPS compound to deliver a hospital bed, gloves, and boxes of wound care supplies. We are fortunate to be partnering with One Million Lights (check out this great organization at http://www.onemillionlights.org/) and will be giving each CHPS compound, many of which operate with sporadic or nonexistent electricity, a solar lantern.

Solar Flashnight from Our Partner One Million Lights

Amidst the frustrations of customs, communication barriers, and inevitable delays, experiences like this remind me of the need that MedPLUS Connect aims to meet and reinforces my own commitment to medicine and public health.

Emma