Immuna

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Water
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

Immuna is located near the coast in the Central Region of  Ghana.  People in Immuna are primarily dedicated to farming and fishing.  Immuna has a kindergarten, primary school, and junior high school. There is a health clinic in the community. Before Global Brigades began working in Immuna, the community’s water system consisted of 3 standpipes. Very few homes have their own toilet facilities, leaving families to use the few public toilets or practice open defecation. There is no rural bank in Immuna that offers savings and loans services. The community expressed that their top needs are a tarred road, sea defense, and cold storage.

District: Ekumfi

Region: Central

Homes : 560
Population : 3874
Water System : Yes
Homes with toilet facility : unknown
Community Bank : No
Electricity : Yes
Health Clinic : Yes
Midwife at clinic : No
Education : Up to junior high
Distance from nearest Lodging Facility : 30-60 minutes

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS:

There are two types of public health clinics available to rural Ghanaians: Health Centers and Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds. Health Centers serve large geographic areas within a district and are staffed by physicians. CHPS compounds serve small clusters of communities and are staffed by live-in nurses. The nurses provide basic services and, if capacity allows, they conduct home visits to families in the communities. 

Even with this coverage, it is important to note that medications, equipment, and essential infrastructure are often not available in these clinics and the physician density in Ghana remains around 0.2 physicians per 1,000 people. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a minimum of 2.3 physicians per 1,000 people to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.

Another key factor for healthcare access in Ghana is insurance. Ghana’s National Health Insurance plan offers universal coverage, but few rural community members are actively enrolled. During Medical Brigades, community members are educated about the benefits of health insurance and are encouraged to enroll (or re-enroll) in the National Health Insurance Plan.

163

Volunteers

2925

Patient Consultations

631

Vision Screenings

18

Health Education Workshops

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Immuna CHPS compound

Medical Brigade clinics are hosted in Immuna’s CHPS Compound. Volunteers assist local doctors and community nurses to serve patients at each station of the clinic. Each day of the brigade, an average of 4 educational charlas are facilitated with the clinic’s patients.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 437

MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS IN IMMUNA:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
University of Cardiff Medical Brigade April 2014 N/A
San Jose State University Medical Brigade June 2017 26
University of Southern California Medical Brigade December 2017 20
University of Arizona Medical Brigade May 2018 29
Wake Forest University, Appalachian State University, and Auburn University Medical Brigade May 2019 23
Regis University and the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical May 2022 27
University of Prince Edward Island and SUNY Stony Brook May 2024 38

Water

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

IMMUNA’S WATER CHALLENGE

Before their partnership with Global Brigades, Immuna had only 3 standpipes that provided water for the entire community. The system did not have a distribution network to individual houses. To retrieve water for household use, people – often women and children – would make multiple trips each day, walking 30 minutes round trip to one of the standpipes carrying containers. The time spent fetching water took time away from women pursuing economic activities and caused children to miss school. One of the top needs expressed by Immuna in their initial meetings with Global Brigades was the construction of more standpipes to facilitate community members’ access to clean drinking water.

2,400

Project Beneficiaries

1

Kilometers of Pipeline Installed

4

Standpipes constructed

IMMUNA’S WATER SOLUTION

The inauguration of new standpipes in Immuna

In 2019, Global Brigades, in partnership with the UK District 105M Lions Club and the Ghana Water Company worked to improve the water situation in Immuna. They carried out a water needs assessment, estimated demand, mapped out water points, and built an additional 4 standpipes. The public standpipes were strategically designed with 2 spouts to increase the number of people who can fetch water at the same time. 

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Immuna but has not yet begun with the Business Brigades program. Now in the planning phase, a market study and the establishment of a community business will start as soon as feasible.

Community Bank : No
Community Bank Members : N/A
Economic Activities : Farming, fish mongering
Existing microenterprises : N/A

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Immuna but has not yet begun with the Public Health Brigades program. Now in the planning phase, implementation of a public health solution will start as soon as feasible.

Homes with toilets : N/A
Common house materials : Concrete blocks, mud

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

  • Feature