KNUST midwifery department receives equipment from UNFPA
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has received equipment worth US$30,000 from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the Skills Laboratory of its School of Nursing and Midwifery.
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The equipment include a cardiotoscopy machine, a multipurpose manual obstetrics bed, urine dilators, thermometers, birth stimulators, MVA kits and cervical dilation and effacement.
Receiving the equipment, the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson noted that the School of Nursing and Midwifery has received support in various forms from the UNFPA over the years.
Collaboration
The support, she said, was appreciated as the university “puts premium on collaboration with partners in its quest to prepare students for society.”
Prof Dickson said the equipment will enable the department to provide the midwifery students with top-notch training and produce professionals with skills to assist women to give birth without losing their lives.
The Vice Chancellor announced that following the approval of the University Council, the nursing department, which is currently part of the School of Allied Sciences, will be upgraded to a full School of Nursing and Midwifery from the next academic year.
Transformative results
The Deputy Representative of UNFPA, Dr. Emmily Naphambo, who presented the items to the university, affirmed the commitment of the United Nations agency to support Ghana to prevent maternal deaths.
She said UNFPA works to promote sexual and reproductive health and to achieve the transformative results of zero maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning and zero tolerance for harmful traditional practices.
Dr. Naphambo added that the UNFPA will continue to support the university to train quality midwives for the country.
Capacity Building
The Director of Nursing and Midwifery of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Barnabas Yeboah also expressed the gratitude of the ministry to the UNFPA for its continuous support to the training of midwives in the country.
“The UNFPA is one of our key partners in midwifery training,” he said, adding that the Midwifery Department of the Nursing School at KNUST has been a beneficiary of the partnership.
He further said that the UNFPA has supported the midwifery department in various ways, including assisting in the development of the training curricula.
Dr. Barnabas said the MOH had identified the need to build the capacity of faculty members in midwifery training institutions to turn out quality professionals.
On her part, the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, KNUST, Prof. Victoria Bam indicated that the partnership with UNFPA has been impactful in the training of the students.
She expressed the hope that the partnership will be strengthened to further improve on the quality of midwives produced by the school.