December 2020 Archives
Posted on Dec 19,2020
The Sekyere East District Health Directorate has recorded no maternal dead between January 2017 and June this year. District Health Director, Dr. Dorothy Afuakwa told Adom News’ Kwame Kulenu they used to record huge numbers of material mortality in previous years, particularly the rural areas. But the figures have been reducing in recent years until it reached zero since last year. Available data from the district indicate in 2015, there were five maternal deaths out 1,861 deliveries, while in 2016, two mothers died out of 2,044 deliveries; but in 2017, all mothers survived out of 1,934 deliveries and so far no mother has died from 1,072 births up to June 2018. Dr. Dorothy Afuakwa said they did not have resources to intervene until World Vision came to the District with health intervention programs, and helped to build one CHPS Compound, which is now being used as OPD, labour ward and other for healthcare purposes. She said World Vision also educated pregnant women on the dos and don’ts, including eating habits, and that is what has helped to arrive at the zero maternal death for one and a half years. “World Vision also helps to train health officers to build their knowledge on health delivery and also train community volunteers to assist the health staff,” she said World Vision also educated mothers on regular breastfeeding, which has also reduced infant mortality rate in the District. Dorothy Afuakwa, however, stated that the Health Directorate lacks vehicles and staff accommodation. She said some workers travel between 45 minutes and 1.30 hours from Kumasi to work every day. This, she said, was undermining quality health delivery in the District. Some breastfeeding mothers told Adom News that children failed to give regular breast milk for six months, are not growing well, but those who got consistent breastfeeding, after sensitization by World Vision are growing faster, stronger and smarter. They thanked World Vision for their support.
Posted on Dec 19,2020
The chiefs and people of Sekyere East District of Ashanti have commended World Vision Ghana (WVG) for its enormous contribution to the socio-economic development in the area Madam Mary Boatemaa Marfo, the District Chief Executive (DCE), who gave the commendation said the people appreciated the support by WVG towards the implementation of various interventions in the areas of health, education, water and sanitation as well as the empowerment of people, especially those in rural and deprived communities in the district. Addressing a review meeting of WVG at Effiduase, she said the huge contributions from the organisation especially in the area of health, had tremendously helped to improve maternal and child health as well as nutrition in the area. The meeting was to assess the WVG’s support in the areas of health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS in the three Area Programmes (AP) that formed the Sekyere East Cluster of the organization. It was also to identify constraints and chart a new way to address them to ensure sustainable improvement in health and nutrition in the area. Madam Marfo said, the effective collaboration between WVG and the District Assembly since 1995 had helped in the development and implementation of various social infrastructure such as school buildings, sanitary facilities, libraries, boreholes, health facilities and others. These had helped improved the living conditions of the people and reduced poverty especially among women and children in deprived communities in the district. Madam Marfo pledged the assembly’s continued support to the WVG to undertake various projects to uplift the people from poverty. Mr. Micah Ayo Olad, the Health, Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Specialist of WVG said the meeting sought to assess the performance and contribution of WVG in the district with regard to its health and nutrition projects. He said the health and nutrition project aimed at improving access to primary health care especially maternal and child health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS services with focus on behavioural change and strengthening of community health systems. It was also to help WVG strategise in fulfilling its mission of helping to improve the health and nutritional status of all the 552, 754 children especially the most vulnerable within families and communities in the area. Mr. Olad said WVG’s health interventions were focused on reducing maternal and child malnutrition, reduce impact of vaccine-preventable diseases and malaria on children and mothers as well as the impact of HIV/AIDS in mothers and children. Mrs. Dorothy Afuakwa, the District Health Director in a presentation touched on the significant improvement in maternal and child health as well as child nutrition in the district and attributed this to the enormous intervention by WVG. She said, the district’s only functional Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound at Ahwerewa that served about 1,720 population in the Ahwerewa and the adjoining communities of Bomso and Feyiase was established by WVG in 2011. The facility had played significant role in the health care delivery services in the district. Mrs. Afuakwa added that WVG’s support to the district in the area of micronutrient supplementation programmes, capacity building for health staff, promotion of infant and young child feeding among others, had aided increased access to quality maternal and neonatal services This, according to her had led to significant reduction in maternal and neonatal deaths in the district from five in 2015 to zero in 2017. Mr. Joseph Kwogyenga, the Sekyere East Cluster Manager of WVG said the cluster which was made up of three Area Programmes (AP) namely Asante Akim, Sekyere East and Atebubu were helping to make significant contributions in the lives of over 4,555,809 vulnerable people including women and children from deprived communities in the operation areas