30 Midwives upgrade skills in Ejisu-Juaben

The Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has begun an initiative to help reduce the incidence of maternal mortality which has become a major health issue in the country.

In line with this, 30 midwives from the GHS, private health facilities and others from the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), operating within the municipality, have been trained on long-term family planning methods and how to effectively administer them.

The five-day training, funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), saw the participants learning more about Implanon, Jadelle and Intra Uterine Device.

They were also taught how to insert and remove family planning kits, how to identify eligible clients, counselling among others.

At the opening of the workshop, the acting Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Director of Health Services, Mrs Mary Amponsah-Koduah, urged the participants to take the training serious to acquire the needed skills.

She said when family planning was taken seriously, it would in the short-term reduce unwanted pregnancy, prevent the transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases among other benefits.

She added that it would also in the long run help reduce maternal mortality since women would plan their pregnancies so that they would not face challenges.

The Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Co-ordinating Director, Mr Owusu Frimpong Boadu, pledged the assembly’s support for the health directorate to help improve quality healthcare delivery in the municipality.

He said to help achieve the various Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the country; there was the need for all stakeholders in the country to contribute their quota to ensure total attainment of the goals.

The Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Planning Officer, Mr Joseph Mills, on his part, said the UNFPA was currently supporting eight districts in the Ashanti and six others in the Brong Ahafo regions to build the capacity of health personnel to enhance their operations to reduce cases of maternal mortality.

He said the programme, dubbed, “6th Country programme,” commenced in 2013 and ends in 2016.

He added that for a start, the assembly had received GH¢46,283 for the first year for capacity building and procurement of equipment for maternal health, advocacy on behavioural change among other issues.

Mr Mills said everything would be done to ensure the project achieved its objectives of enhancing quality healthcare delivery and improve maternal health issues in the municipality and the nation as a whole.