The Region recorded 43 maternal death resulting from haemorrhage and anaemia in 2017, the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Winfred Ofosu disclosed.

The figure, according to him, was an increase from the 36  maternal mortality cases recorded in 2016.

Dr. Ofosu disclosed this at a regional launch of Girls’ Iron-Folate Tablet Supplementation (GIFTS) programme in Bolgatanga on the theme: Investing in Girls’ health for improved learning ability and development.

He explained that, though there are other factors accounting for the rising mortality rate in the region, haemorrhage and anaemia remain the major causes of maternal mortality.

“Hemorrhage is a major cause of maternal deaths and the ability to survive haemorrhage depends very much on blood levels of the woman. Those who have little blood die after small blood loss whilst those who have sufficient blood survive even after heavy bleeding.

“Between January 1 and December 6, 2017, 43 women compared to 36 in 2016 have died as a result of childbirth and some of these was due to anaemia and bleeding. Anaemia also has a serious effect on the unborn baby such as foetal anaemia, low birth weight, preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction and perinatal mortality.”

Dr. Ofosu reiterated that the Iron-Folate supplementation intervention will not only reduce maternal deaths and morbidities but will also improve the academic impact of girls.

Under the programme, adolescents aged 10-19  in all basic, second cycle, training colleges and tertiary institutions will receive weekly doses of Iron-folic acid every Wednesday.

Those out of school will receive their first dose at health facilities with the rest taken home every Wednesday, while women aged 20 years and above entreated to buy the drug at chemical shops for usage.

The intervention is aimed at reducing anaemia by 20% in women of childbearing age and cutting anaemia in adolescent girls to 57,538 and 78,730 girls in school and out-of-school respectively.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The First Lady, who was speaking on the occasion of a Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA), described the situation as not only worrying but unacceptable.

[contextly_sidebar id=”e6DywiGWAijlcVXH3YuPPyfarLyaqVM3″]“Ghana could not achieve its millennium development goal target of 185 per 100,000 live births; we achieved 319 per 100,000 live births at the end of 2015. Given that the new sustainable development goal target is to achieve 70 per 100,000 live births by the end of 2030, we need to work with urgency.”

“This is a crisis situation, and it must be approached as a national emergency if we are to achieve our SDG target. Business, as usual, will simply not work. We need to take bold steps to ensure that our health and indeed social policies address these challenges adequately.”

CARMMA, which is being championed by the African Union Commission, will be an annual assessment that aims at redefining and refocusing countries’ energy towards ensuring that the appropriate interventions are implemented to ensure the total survival of mothers and their children during childbirth.

Expressing her gratitude to CARMMA for taking the initiative to ensure that no one is left behind in the fight to attain the SDGs, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo appealed to stakeholders and the general public to help in the campaign.

“I commend the African Union for taking this initiative.  We need a holistic approach to engaging traditional and religious leaders as well as regional, municipal, metropolitan and district level leaders to commit to prioritizing the reduction of maternal death.  We need to encourage our parliamentarians to make the reduction of maternal death a priority with the resources available to them.  We need to work with all stakeholders to provide funding for health system strengthening. This I know is not difficult for us as a nation.”

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By: Felicia Osei /citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said the 2014 Ghana Demographic Health Survey (GDHS) showed that, the prevalence of anaemia among women of child-bearing age (15-49 years) stood at 42 per cent.

[contextly_sidebar id=”5sDQxQ1pxkVWxAAYlIZZhcjYBiYCOaXb”]The rates were highest among the adolescents age group (15-19 years) at 48 per cent and 45 percent among pregnant women.

Dr. Nsiah-Asare made this known at the national launch of Girls Iron and Folic Acid Tablets Supplementation (GIFTS) Programme on Wednesday in Sunyani.

The key objective of the programme is to contribute to the reduction of anaemia in-school and out- of school adolescent girls through weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation.

The first phase of the programme in four regions would  serve about 360,000  in-school children, and close to 600,000 out of school children to improve the quality of nutrition for girls and women to reduce the prevailing anaemia rate in the country.

The programme initiated by the GHS and the Ghana Education Service (GES), with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is being implemented in the Brong-Ahafo, Volta, Northern and Upper East Regions.

He stated that anaemia affected seven out of ten children below five years and four, out of 10 women of child-bearing age, and added that the high prevalence of anaemia in young children seemed to persist even as they grew older into adolescence.

Dr. Nsiah-Asare said the programme was expected to revamp the existing iron and folic acid supplementation programme that targeted pregnant women, but the target was not being achieved because of misconceptions and other operational reasons.

He expressed worry that Ghana was now battling with “the triple burden of malnutrition” – high prevalence of under-nutrition, micro-nutrient deficiencies of various forms, and an alarming increase in the trends of overweight and obesity particularly in urban areas.

Dr. Nsiah-Asare stressed the need to address it [anaemia] to curtail the far-reaching irreversible adverse effect on physical and cognitive effects on the population, and urged the general public to take oranges regularly and other fruits rich in Vitamin C that helped the body to use the iron for making blood.

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Source: GNA

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The research, under the Preventing Maternal and Neonatal Deaths in Rural Northern Ghana (PREMAND) Study, also showed that there was an increased risk of infant mortality associated with mothers who were in polygamous marriages, and those whose husbands had less education and willed the strongest voice in deciding to seek care for sick infants.

[contextly_sidebar id=”kOSBqFE6SE90DzJMXbygPhbrtSTNP1VX”]Covering the period between August 2014 and February 2017, the study found 211 neonatal deaths and 87 near-misses across the four districts with half of deaths occurring in the East Mamprusi district in the Northern Region.

The study, conducted to establish the factors that distinguish between neonatal deaths and near-misses across four districts of Northern Ghana -Sissala East, Kassena-Nankana East and West and East Mamprusi- showed that mothers who did not seek antenatal care, did not have a skilled birth attendant and who did not seek care outside the home for baby’s illness run the risk of losing their new-borns.

Annually, close to 3 million babies die before age of one month while several others suffer life-threatening complications but survive, known as ‘near-misses’.

The research by Cheryl A. Moyer and Katherine H. James from the University of Michigan Medical School and John Williams of the Navrongo Health Research Centre found that the “strongest factors associated with seeking care outside the home were younger maternal ages and mothers having the strongest voice in care-seeking decision-making”.

According to the study, the findings reiterated the importance of education in driving appropriate healthcare seeking, as well as the need for community-driven interventions to address prompt care-seeking.

The research thus provided evidence of a causal pathway where women having the strongest voice regarding care-seeking for their sick infants increased the likelihood of their survival and reduced the probability of new-born death.

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Source: GNA

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Mrs. Akufo-Addo mentioned logistical constraints at the Komfo Anokye Hospital Teaching Hospital, and stressed the need to support her “Save a Child Save a Mother” campaign, which seeks to build a new unit for the Komfo Anokye maternity block.

“As we celebrate mothers’ day, I wish to remind all Ghanaians of the needless deaths of mothers and children at the Komfo Anokye Hospital. No woman should die giving life to another, and no mother should lose a child she has carried for nine months. As we honour mothers, let us all resolve to contribute to the ‘save a child save a mother’ project by contributing in cash or in kind to the special fund to build a new unit for the Komfo Anokye maternity block,” she said.

Mrs. Akufo-Addo has been garnering support from Ghanaians and corporate organisations to raise GHc 10 million to construct a new mother and baby unit at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

There is also a 1,000-bed Maternal and Children’s Block project at the hospital which has remained uncompleted for some four decades, and management has stressed the need for the completion of the project so as to improve the facilities and offer the needed clinical interventions in the area of paediatric and maternal health care.

The maternal mortality rate at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has reduced from 10.56 per 100,000 live births in 2015, to 10.20 per 100,000 live births in 2016, according to its management.

Maternal mortality ratio estimates, per 100,000 live births in Ghana, was recorded at 319 in 2015, per the World Bank collection of development indicators compiled from officially-recognized sources.

This number is slightly better than UN projections for 2015, that stood at 358, but the Millennium Development Goals 5 target 190 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

Most maternal deaths in Ghana are said to be preventable, and about 65% of them are attributable to four main causes: postpartum haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders and sepsis.

Find below the First Lady’s full Mothers’ Day message

MOTHERS’DAY MESSAGE FROM THE FIRST LADY OF THE REPUBLIC MRS. REBECCA NAA OKAIKOR AKUFO-ADDO

Today is mother’s day and I salute all mothers and mother figures. Motherhood is a tough job. Mothers never rest. A mother would move heaven and earth for her child. Mothers shape our lives, nurture our talents and inspire us to achieve greater heights. Every mother deserves to have this special day.

As a mother, I am mindful of the struggles mothers go through, as we work tirelessly to instill discipline, protect and create opportunities for a better life for our children.

I wish to use this opportunity to urge all mothers to keep up the good work even in the face of challenges, knowing that in due course we would all enjoy the fruit of our labour.

I also urge everyone to appreciate all the mothers in our lives. Because they are simply phenomenal.

Whether this woman is your mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, foster or adoptive mother, please remember to say thank you today. These women deserve your appreciation.

As we celebrate mothers’ day, I wish to remind all Ghanaians of the needless deaths of mothers and children at the Komfo Anokye Hospital. No woman should die giving life to another and no mother should lose a child she has carried for nine months. As we honour mothers, let us all resolve to contribute to the save a child save a mother project by contributing in cash or in kind to the special fund to build a new unit for the Komfo Anokye maternity block.

Please pay your cheque or cash into the Save a Child Save a Mother account, at Access bank.

Happy Mother’s to all our phenomenal women.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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“We are also aware that some individuals are instructing caterers to discontinue catering services they are providing to some Ghana School Feeding Programme beneficiary schools.

“The only authority mandated to abrogate, suspend or call for reconsideration of caterer contracts on the GSFP, is the Ministry of Gender, through the GSFP,” Mr. Kwesi Armo-Himbson, Chief Director of the Gender Ministry said in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday.

The statement said as part of plans to expand the beneficiaries on the GSFP to 1.3 million, the programme will be recruiting new caterers.

The statement said adverts will be placed in various media for this purpose.

“All caterers interested in providing services on the GSFP, are directed to their District Assembly Offices to pick up application forms and apply accordingly.

“As part of the recruitment process successful applicants will undergo medical screening and training to ensure persons identified deliver safe and quality services to beneficiaries on the Programme.

The Government in 2015 changed the sectoral responsibility for the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

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Source: GNA

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The four years project dubbed, “Encouraging Positive Practices for Improving Child Survival (EPPICS)”, was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The project was implemented in 240 communities in 13 designated health facilities.

The CRS health programme Manager, Mohammed Ali at a stakeholders meeting in Tamale said the project’s objective was met though with limited resources.

According to him, previous statistics on maternal mortality ratio in the Northern and Upper Regions stood at 275 per 100,000 live-births.

But the project has significantly reduced the ratio to 81 per 100,000, Mohammed Ali boasted.

He attributed the project’s success to the commitment of staff of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Traditional Birth Attendants and other community based agents whose capacity was built ahead of the implementation stage.

As a means of sustaining the project, he said a permanent learning centre serving 25 districts is located at the East Mamprusi district.

Mohammed Ali pinpointed poor community engagement and the Ghana Health Service inadequate resources as some of the critical gaps affecting interventions rolled out by development partners to conquer maternal and infant mortality.

He thereby admonished government to show enough commitment towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.

A former district health Director of the East Mamprusi district, Paulina Bayiwasi admitted that the East Mamprusi district was the poorest performing district in terms of supervision, post natal attendance and exclusive breastfeeding practices.

She commended the CRS-USAID for the EPPICS project which she said has overturned the situation.

Paulina Bayiwasi called for sufficient government’s subvention in the health sector.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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However, immunization coverage declined from 40 per cent in 2015 to 38.2 per cent in 2016.

Dr. Winfred Ofosu, Acting Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, made this known during the 2016 half-year performance review conference in Wa.

He said there was an increase in antenatal care coverage from 41.7 per cent in 2015 to 44.6 per cent in 2016, while skilled delivery coverage increased from 30.5 per cent in 2015 to 33.2 per cent in 2016.

Dr. Ofosu said family planning among women in the fertile age category recorded an increase of 26.3 per cent in 2016 as against 23.9 per cent in 2015.

Adolescent pregnancy also saw an increase from 12.3 per cent in 2015 to 12.9 per cent in 2016, he said.

He said performance in some critical areas was below expectation and called for the need for them to find the causes during the forum and seek ways to improve performance by close of the year.

The Upper West Regional Director of Health Services said the purpose of the performance review conference was to enable them assess their performance in all service areas to determine whether they were on track to achieving their set targets.

It is also for them to identify their strengths, weaknesses and collectively re-strategize to meet the expected performance targets.

This year’s half year performance review conference was under the theme: “Strengthening community level health systems – successes, challenges and the way forward”.

Dr Ofosu said the choice of the theme was underpinned by the critical role community health systems play in improving health outcomes in the household and the community at large.

He said coming on the heels of the just ended phase two of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supported project on maternal and neonatal health services improvement, it was also to remind them of their collective responsibility to sustain the gains made through the project implementation.

He said at the community level were the various determinants of health conditions which facilitate the transmission and distribution of diseases.

“These include, lack of antenatal care, inappropriate feeding practices, poor sanitation, open defecation, unimmunized children, unsafe water sources, poor nutrition, lack of family planning, unsafe sex and non-use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) among others”, he said.

Dr Ofosu said all these occurred at the community level and facilitated ill health and death, adding that building strong community level health systems to address these determinants would greatly improve health outcomes.

Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, Upper West Regional Minister, said the region was still faced with myriads of health challenges such as malaria, child survival and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, cerebrospinal meningitis among others, adding that government was still investing in the health sector to address these challenges.

He said the provision of 213 functional Community-Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds currently pushed health coverage from 14.6 per cent to 53 per cent of the region’s population.

Alhaji Sulemana said during the period under review, the region realized some improvement in the number of doctors in the area – from 12 in 2013 to 28 in 2015 and to 48 at the end of the mid-year in 2016.

The Regional Minister said the proportion of clients covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) during the period under review was 96.4 per cent against 94.8 per cent in 2015.

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Source: GNA

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The mine has served notice it will close its main mine and lay off about 5,000 of its workers due to falling gold prices and cost of production in Ghana.

The sector Minister, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has justified the need for Anglogold Ashanti to shut its Obuasi Mines after over 100 years of operation.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Alhaji Fuseini stated that his personal assessment shows that the company cannot continue to operate under the current circumstances.

He explained that the cost of operation far outweighs the profit revenue that is derived from Obuasi, adding that, he has personally visited the site to assess the situation.

The closure of the mine is expected to last between 18 to 24 months and time is to be used to invest and ensure the southern part of the mine which holds the potential is fully exploited.

This is to enable the mine to re-open and operate for the next 25 years.

But Alhaji Fuseini is requesting for some concrete assurances from the management of the company because according to him, government has legitimate concerns about the closure.

“How will they protect the integrity of the mine because the mine is an underground mine…a mine closure will need security to safeguard the integrity of the mine so they should come out and tell us how they want to protect the integrity of the mine.

We need firm commitment that if they close down the mine, they will re-open it after the date that they have said. We need firm commitment from them to show that they have enough resources to invest in the mines,” he said.

The sector Minister however, clarified that the mine has not been closed down yet and negotiations are ongoing “and what you have heard is just an intent; they are not yet implementing the decision.”

He disclosed that governments concerns in relation to the matter have been penciled down for the next engagement with the management of Anglogold Ashanti.

Alhaji Fuseini pledged that his Ministry will closely collaborate with Anglogold Ashanti “to build a consensus on what ought to be done that will inure to the collective benefit of the people of this country and guarantee them a return of their investments.”

He also expressed regret at the failure of Ghanaians to take advantage of the mining boom which took place in the 1980s.

Alhaji Fuseini noted that Ghanaians have the expertise in mining working in other mining industries across the world but was quick to add that government should not be blamed for the absence of many wholly owned Ghanaian mining companies.

“Going forward, we should be able to see Ghanaian companies acquiring each other and turning themselves into big companies to determine the way the mining industry goes in Ghana,” he said.

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

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