For the past ten years, the people of Kpala, a remote island community in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District of the Eastern Region, have been tirelessly trying to complete a health center they began building with their own resources.
Despite their best efforts, the facility remains unfinished — a skeletal structure symbolizing both their resilience and the neglect they continue to suffer at the hands of government.
Made up predominantly of fisherfolk, Kpala faces severe barriers to accessing basic healthcare. The nearest health facility is several kilometers away, only reachable by boat and canon, which makes emergency care – particularly maternal and child health services – virtually inaccessible.
Pregnant women and children are the most vulnerable, with several cases of maternal deaths, birth complications, and child mortality recorded over the years due to delays in seeking timely medical care.
“We started this health center with community contributions, molded the blocks ourselves, and carried materials across the river,” said Jubilee Benson Sedoameda, a former Assembly Member for the Area and Executive Director of Freedom Islands Right and Social Transformation (FIRST), which initiated the project. “But we can’t finish it. We have so far spent GHS155,000. We need help. Our women are dying, our children are dying — and we are being forgotten.”
The uncompleted facility lacks roofing, medical equipment, furniture, and a reliable water supply. Health workers are unwilling to accept postings to Kpala because of the poor infrastructure and living conditions.
As a result, preventable diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, and respiratory infections continue to have a toll on the people, while pregnant women are forced to deliver at home without skilled care.
Sustainable Development Goals
The situation in Kpala underscores a broader national concern owing to Ghana’s commitment toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) and SDG 1 (No Poverty).
But without urgent interventions in hard-to-reach communities like Kpala, these goals remain far from reality.
Even though the Kwahu Afram Plains North Health Directorate has made strides in reducing maternal and child mortality rates, with the incidence rate decreasing from 357/1000 in 2022 to 212/1000 in 2023, there are still challenges being faced by the people of Kpala.
Poor access to healthcare perfectly fits into the cycle of poverty in Kpala as rampant cases of ill-health on the part of the citizenry reduces productivity among fisherfolk, pushes families into debt through high out-of-pocket health expenses, and diminishes children’s school attendance and future potential.
Advocates are calling on government agencies, development partners, and philanthropic organizations to support the people of Kpala in completing their health center — not as an act of charity, but as a crucial step towards equity in health and sustainable development in Ghana.
“This health center can save lives and restore hope,” says Douglas Boateng, a nurse in charge of the facility. “We’ve come this far. We just need support to finish what we started.”
As the world moves toward 2030, the unfinished health center in Kpala stands as a powerful reminder that real progress must include the most forgotten voices — and that the path to development must be walked with, not ahead of, the people left behind.
