Ghana has made progress in reducing under five deaths over the past decades.
However, according to the latest data on child mortality, with an annual rate of reduction of 2.6 per cent of under five deaths, the country will not achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) target to reduce the number of children who die before the age of five.
The most recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service with support from partners in 2011 reports that every year, out of 1,000 children born alive, 82 will not live to celebrate their fifth birthday. What is more, the data shows that out of these 82 deaths, 32 will not make it past the first 30 days of life. The number of newborns who are dying has not changed much in the last decade.
The trend in Ghana is similar to global trends, which, according to a new report released on September 13, dubbed “Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed Progress Report 2013”, indicates that “despite rapid progress in reducing child deaths since 1990, the world is failing to renew the promise for the most vulnerable citizens” – its children.
A Promise Renewed is a global movement that seeks to advance Every Woman Every Child – a strategy launched by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to mobilise and intensify global action to improve the health of women and children, through action and advocacy to accelerate reductions in preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths.
The 2013 progress report, which is the second in the series, aims to track progress and promote accountability for global commitments made to children.
The report indicates that unless immediate action is taken to address the situation, the world is not likely to meet the MDG 4 on child mortality until 2028.
In Ghana, according to the MICS 2011 data, twice as many children born to the country’s 20 per cent poorest population are more likely to die than the 20 per cent in the richest quintile. Geographically, the Northern Region has the highest number (124) of children who die before age five followed by the Upper West (108) and then the Brong Ahafo regions (104). All these numbers are out of every one thousand children born alive.
Interestingly women who have had a secondary education are less likely to lose their children than their counterparts who are uneducated.
In contrast, the educational level of a woman has no bearing on newborn deaths; the same numbers of newborns die before the first 30 days of life irrespective of their mother’s educational level.
The key to preventing more newborns from dying in Ghana is an integrated strategy that links key interventions across the continuum of care from pre-pregnancy care to the post-partum period.
At least two-thirds of these deaths could be reduced in Ghana by these interventions. Skilled delivery, early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding are simple interventions that feed into the strategy. These interventions should be part and parcel of integrated healthcare service delivery at all levels of the healthcare system.
“Ongoing efforts to strengthen the healthcare system in Ghana are good but we need to also work on demand and ensure more rural women use the facilities more often, and in so doing prevent loss of lives,” said UNICEF Representative Susan Namondo Ngongi. “We must make a concerted effort to commit to reverse the situation of newborns in Ghana; everyone must make the pledge vowing to support the progress on child survival. The babies about to be born can’t wait!”
By Daily Graphic/Ghana
