The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate in partnership with One Million Community Health Worker (1mCHW) 
Campaign has convened the First Ashanti Regional Forum on accelerating the implementation of the national policy on Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS).
The Forum is in line with Ghana’s health sector medium term strategy and will contribute to the country’s efforts at meeting the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The Forum was held under the theme: “CHPS as a strategy for achieving Universal Health Coverage: the role of Stakeholders”.
It is part of efforts by the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate and its key partners to scale up the implementation of 
the CHPS strategy towards the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the Region.
The Forum brought together traditional and political leadership, as well as major stakeholders involved in the implementation of CHPS in the region to share best practices and crystalize ideas on the way forward in ensuring the full roll-out of CHPS in all Electoral Areas (CHPS zones) in the region. The national CHW demonstration initiative in seven districts in Ashanti region was also launched at the Forum.
The Forum was funded by Millennium Promise Ghana, a major partner in health and community systems 
strengthening. Millennium Promise is supporting the Forum as part of efforts to improve upon the continuum of health care from the household level to the primary health care system. A core area of MP’s focus is the support to health systems including leveraging advances in ICTs for health.
Through its 1mCHW Campaign, MP supported the national CHW scale-up including the provision of technical assistance in the development of National CHW Roadmap, development of National CHW Implementation Guidelines, eHealth Technical Assistance training among others. In the seven CHW demonstration districts, MP supported community infrastructure and health mapping, development and training on the community eHealth application, known as CeTracker. MP Ghana outlined plans for extension of interventions and technical support to additional districts in the coming year.
At the Forum, MP Ghana donated equipment and logistics valued at 200,000 dollars to the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate. The items include CHW backpacks, uniforms, jackets, smart phones, tablets and laptops. The items are aimed at consolidating gains on CHPS, spurring a health data revolution in the country, and ultimately contributing to improved population health.
The donations were received by the representative of Otumfour Osei Tutu II, the Ashantihene and Hon. Alex Ackom, the Ashanti Regional Minister. They in turn passed on the items to Dr. Alexis Nang-Beifubah, the Ashanti regional Director of Health Services. Dr. Nang-Beifubah said it was an honour and privilege to be part of this history making event of Ashanti regional forum and assured the forum that the items will be put to good use.
The Regional Directorate indicated that within two years of intensive work on CHPS, the region has seen more than 100 CHPS compounds constructed through the support of many stakeholders especially the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and communities. Dr. Nang-Beifubah further stated that “the number of CHPS compounds in the region increased from 63 in 2014 to 140 in 2016 with many others at various level of completion”.
He intimated that over 60% of 1,114 CHPS zones have been made functional; bringing health services closer to our people in thousands of communities. Overall, Dr. Nang-Beifubah was optimistic that the current picture shows a positive outlook for health indicators in the region.
