Pregnant women told to register for antenatal care
The Director of the Family Health Department of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, has encouraged pregnant women to seek antenatal care within the first three months of pregnancy for comprehensive and effective care.
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He said even though more than 80 per cent of pregnant women had at least one contact with a skilled care provider during pregnancy in 2016, the country recorded declines in its antenatal care coverage in the past three years.
He was speaking at the annual review conference of the Family Health Division of the Ministry of Health in Sunyani in the Brong-Ahafo Region.
The occasion was also used to launch the Seventh African Vaccination (AVW) and the 2017 Child Health Promotion Week (CHPW).
Interventions
The Child Health Promotion Week seeks to increase demand for pertinent child health intervention by raising awareness of their value, and spreading the word that the greater proportion of child deaths can be prevented by well-known effective interventions that are routinely available and delivered free of charge in the country’s health facilities and outreach points.
The five-day conference, on the theme: “Improving quality of care to ensure survival, thriving and transformation for national development,” is aimed at reviewing the successes and failures of the division during the period under review.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye announced that the Northern Region recorded the highest antenatal care coverage of more than 100 per cent in 2016, while the Volta Region recorded the least of about 69 per cent in the year under review.
According to him, the Brong-Ahafo, Eastern, Upper East, Western and Volta regions recorded marginal declines in antenatal care coverage during the year under review.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye attributed the problem of low birth weight and haemorrhage during and after delivery, to anemia, indicating that anaemia in pregnant women, low birth weight and haemorrhage during and after delivery could increase the risk of maternal mortality.
Skilled delivery
On skilled delivery, he revealed that the Upper East Region had recorded the highest skilled delivery coverage for the past three years even though there was a reduction in 2015 and 2016, while the Volta Region recorded the lowest within the same period.
According to Dr Kuma-Aboagye, Brong-Ahafo, Eastern and Volta regions had consistently recorded declines in skilled delivery for the past three years.
Under-five mortality
For his part, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of GHS, Dr Timothy Letsa, said under-five mortality remained a challenge, with institutional under-five mortality at 12.5 per cent in 2016 as compared to 13.8 per cent in 2012.
He stated that the largest component of under-five mortality rate was neonatal mortality rate which increased from 5.7 per 1000 live births to 6.2 per 1000 live births, and expressed worry over the development.
Dr Letsa added that still birth rate in the region, however, decreased from 1.7 per 1000 live births to 1.5 per 1000 live births.
He stated that strategies had been adopted for the provision of appropriate care in order to identify early danger signs related to pregnancy, childbirth and newborn.
Dr Letsa mentioned inadequate funds to procure essential items and medicines for service delivery, transport such as boats for riverine areas, pick-up trucks, motor bikes to facilitate movement, and lack of basic hospital tools and equipment for service delivery as some of the challenges facing the service providers in the region.
