Neonatal jaundice cases rise in Volta Region
A specialist paediatrician at the Volta Regional Hospital, Hohoe, Dr Edem Sarbah, has said new-born jaundice cases in the Volta Region have been increasing tremendously in the past four years.
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For instance, he said, the cases rose from 720 in 2019 to 879 in 2020. In 2021, a total of 997 cases were reported and that increased to 1,238 in 2022, Dr Sarbah disclosed.
He said the incidence rate of neonatal jaundice in the region now stood at 3.7 per cent, an increase of 3.2 per cent from last year.
Dr Sarbah said these during the launch and commemoration of the Volta Regional Neonatal Jaundice Week in Ho last Friday.
Organised jointly by the Paediatric Society of Ghana and the Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH), the celebration was on the theme “Spot the Yellow, Stop Disability and Death”.
Underreported
Dr Sarbah said the figures were less than the actual number of babies who developed jaundice, adding that some of them returned to the hospital with preventable disabilities while some died.
“Awareness about newborn jaundice remains low, hence the drive for this advocacy,” he pointed out.
He explained that jaundice may occur on its own or due to underlying conditions and surgical causes.
According to him, the brain damage caused by newborn jaundice was irreversible and was connected to deafness, speaking difficulties, mobility problems, seizures, impaired intellect, cerebral palsy and death in some cases.
Dr Sarbah said the symptoms of yellow eyes or skin in the new-born indicated a medical emergency, for which reason the cases must be reported immediately to the nearest healthcare facility.
“By spotting the yellow, we have the opportunity to stop the disability and grant our children a life filled with promises, possibilities and boundless potential,” he said.
Prevention
Earlier, the Director of Medical Service at HTH, Dr Lord Mensah, said the prevention of the disease was key to the development of the child.
Therefore, the HTH would maintain a firm stance to support the paediatric unit in various ways to prevent disabilities in newborns, he added.
The Queen of the Ve-Deme Tsowu Afede clan, Mama Afiakumah II, who presided, urged public-spirited individuals and corporate bodies to support the Paediatric Society of Ghana with great zeal and resources in the campaign to minimise neonatal jaundice cases in the region, and for that matter the country.