Ghana’s first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo has called on Ghanaians and corporate organizations to assist raise an amount of GH10 million cedis to construct a new mother and baby unit at the Komfo Anokye teaching hospital in the Ashanti region.
The unit which is expected to be constructed within three months will help to reduce congestion and current deaths reported daily at the facility.
[contextly_sidebar id=”7dY6tVgrHMrrrdGfzF64K6ee5nel1iCs”]Available records show that a newborn baby dies every fifteen minutes with four babies dying every hour at the country’s biggest referral hospital in Kumasi.
Speaking at a fundraising event held at her office, Mrs. Akufo-Addo said the new unit will allow KATH to take in four times the current number of infants and mothers and also reduce the avoidable deaths by 60-80%.
According to her, although some pledges and donations have been made, more can be given to help the #SAVEACHILDSAVEAMOTHER project.
“Currently the maternity centre has 2 delivery beds and 2 operating rooms with only one functional. The new unit would have 5 delivery beds, 3 operating rooms and 4 emergency delivery beds. At present we only have 3 working incubators and 4 phototherapy units.
The new unit would be equipped with 20 incubators and 20 phototherapy units.
The current facility uses natural ventilation which makes the place really hot.
The new unit would be an insulated building with forced cooling. It will also allow KATH to take in four times the current number of infants and mothers. We did some research and discovered a lot more of our health facilities need help. The plan is to finish the KATH project and move on, to other health facilities. Our goal is to raise a minimum of ten million cedis to build the single-story, maternity ward.”
The fundraising event saw the first lady raise an amount of GHS 7,695,444 in cash, cheques and pledges. Some companies like GHACEM promised to provide all the cement needed for the project, whilst others like Interplast Ghana gave GHS25,000 in cash and GHS75,000 worth of pipes and paints.
The occasion was also graced by the wife of Ghana’s Vice President, Samira Bawumia, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, founder of Action Chapel, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, members of the Diplomatic Corp, representatives from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals, Ambassadors and other dignitaries.
–
By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana