Evidence for Action programme commended
THE Deputy Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Gloria Quansah Asare, has commended the Evidence for Action (E4A) programme for promoting maternal and new-born survival in Ghana.
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Speaking at a dissemination workshop on the E4A in Accra on Thursday, she said they had not only helped to train frontline workers but had also strengthened client partnerships for improved outcomes and the use of data for decision making.
The Evidence for Action project
The Evidence for Action (E4A) is a five-year programme (running until 2016) in six sub-Saharan African countries to improve maternal and new-born survival.
Funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), it focuses on using better information and improved advocacy and accountability to save lives in the beneficiary countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.
E4A acts as a catalyst for action, using evidence strategically to generate political commitment, strengthen accountability and improve planning and decision-making at sub-national and national levels.
Four regions
Dr Quansah Asare indicated that the project had since 2012 been implemented in four regions in Ghana; namely, Upper West, Ashanti, Greater Accra and Volta and in four districts within each of the regions. She added that some successes had been chalked up to improve maternal and infant survival through it advocacy skills.
The Dean of the School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Professor Richard Adanu, called on the government to increase its budget allocation for the fight against maternal and new-born deaths.
Prof. Adanu, who is also the Country Director for the E4A programme, said although the government was playing its role in that respect, it was not enough; hence the need to improve on the situation.
Statistics
On the implementation of the project in the country, he said the project implementers brought a team of specialists to train and supervise frontline maternal and new-born health providers.
Giving the statistics on maternal death, he said maternal mortality had reduced by 60 per cent from 1990 to 2015, with a current rate of 330 per 100,000 live births, while the child mortality rate had also reduced by 77 per cent over the period, with a current rate of 19 per 1000 live births.
Prof. Adanu explained that births covered by skilled attendants was currently at 74 per cent, infant mortality had been reduced by 47 per cent, with under five mortality rate having been reduced by 61 per cent to a current rate of 60 per 1000 live births.