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Kpembe, Ghana – The wife of Ghana’s Vice President has called for a multidimensional approach to address the country’s maternal and infant mortality problems.
Even though Ghana has made significant progress in tackling the problems associated with maternal and infant mortalities, she pointed out that a lot more needs to be done.
Hajia Samira Bawumia was speaking at Kpembe in the East Gonja District of the Northern Region, where she officially launched the ” The Safe Delivery Project” initiated by her charity organisation known as the Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP).
The project is to contribute to the reduction in neonatal mortality rate which currently stands at 29 per 1,000 live births and maternal mortality 319 per 100,000 live births as disclosed by the Health Minister of Ghana on 28th October 2017.
She noted that central government alone cannot combat maternal mortality, hence her organization’s desire to drastically reduce the menace.
According to her, the health security of Ghanaians remained government and development partners major priority, and promised that her organization will mobilize enough resources to achieve its goal.
The launch which was themed: “Promoting Safe Deliveries And Ensuring Healthy Infants; Securing Our Future”, is to contribute to the reduction in maternal mortality from the current reported level of 319 deaths per 100,000 live births (Ministry of Health, October 2017) to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals’ target of 70 per 100,000 live births.
“The health of our nation is our wealth and it is essential that everyone has access to basic healthcare facilities. Ensuring healthy lives is important to building prosperous societies. Issues affecting the health of both men and women are widespread and addressing them requires an approach that ensures every individual and community, irrespective of their circumstances, should receive the health services they need.
“Though there are many other issues as far as women’s health is concerned in Ghana, maternal health with its associated maternal and neonatal mortality is the greatest and the most heart-breaking concern of mine,” she lamented.
Hajia Samira Bawumia maintained that it was totally unacceptable the ratio of maternal mortality recorded in developing countries.
“It is still unacceptably high. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every day, nearly 830 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and child birth complications. In 2015 alone, the UN-statistics estimated that 303,000 women died due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Almost 99% of all these deaths occurred in developing countries.
“The WHO estimated that between 1990 and 2015, maternal mortality dropped by 44% worldwide. Despite these gains, maternal and neonatal mortality rates continue to be high in sub-Sahara African countries. The maternal mortality ratio for sub-Sahara African countries is 546 per 100,000 live births. More women and mothers continue to die during pregnancy and childbirth related complications. Almost all of these deaths occur in under-resourced settings and most of them could have been prevented”, she indicated.
She decried the Ghanaian statistics saying, “…. nearly 91% of pregnant women in the urban areas access skilled delivery while only 59% of the rural women access skilled birth. This reflects the inequalities in access to healthcare.
“These women die as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. According to the WHO the major complications that account for nearly 75% of all maternal deaths are severe bleeding, hemorrhaging (mostly after childbirth)
Infection (usually after childbirth),
Complications from delivery (obstructed labour (raptured uterous),
high blood pressure during pregnancy and
unsafe abortions. These revelations are all very disheartening”, she noted.
The Second Lady nonetheless commended the nation’s health workers for their tremendous efforts over the years. “It is important that today, we celebrate all the hardworking medical personnel who in spite of all the difficulties confronted with every day under the most challenging of circumstances work tirelessly to save lives.”
She also thanked Dannex Pharmacy, Pharmanova Limited, The Chamber of Pharmacy, Unilever, PZ Cussons and Ernest Chemist Limited for their generosity and continued support.
SEHP Mission
The Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service continue to implement evidence based and high impact interventions; however, these interventions are hampered by challenges such as inadequate funding, human resource and essential supplies etc.
It is against this background that the Samira Empowerment & Humanitarian Projects (SEHP), has initiated the SEHP Safe Delivery Project to support their efforts. The need to improve maternal health and ensure safe deliveries requires attention from all sectors of our society.
The SEHP Safe Delivery Project aims to contribute to the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality through training, education and the provision of well-resourced birth kits to expectant mothers in the worst affected communities across Ghana.
It is also a comprehensive approach to tackling the problem of maternal and neonatal mortality.
The kits contain supplies including methylated spirit, sterile blade, delivery mat, a pair of sterile gloves, gauze swabs, cord ties, combined dressing, name tag, cord clamp, cord sheet, baby hat and medicated soap. The kits also include medication to prevent hemorrhaging and vitamins supplements. These kits will be distributed by trained community based volunteers and health personnel.
The project’s main objective is to improve the chances of survival of mothers and newborns, by addressing at least 3 main causes of maternal and neonatal mortality particularly Postpartum Hemorrhage (bleeding), hypertensive disorders and infections.
The project will engage qualified senior midwives to train nurses, volunteers and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) on how to effectively use the birth kits.
This will ensure safe delivery practices for our expectant mothers. Also, through this project, SEHP hopes to establish a successful sustainable project that can be potentially scaled up by the government.
By savannahnewsonline.com/Philip Liebs
