The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research has been selected as a technical partner for the activities of the Initiative for Maternal Mortality Programme Assessment (IMPACT) in the country.
Professor David Ofori-Adjei, Director of the Institute, told reporters at the launch of the initiative in Accra on Wednesday that IMPACT would conduct research aimed at strengthening the evidence-base for reducing maternal deaths and severe illness.
This, he said, would be possible by applying effective and affordable strategies that are supportive by the health systems and communities. IMPACT, a global research initiative to provide rigorous evidence of the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of safe motherhood intervention strategies and their implications for equity and sustainability, will also focus on Burkina Faso and Indonesia.
Ultimately, eight developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America would be primary partners in IMPACT. The seven-year initiative is supported by the Department for International Development (DFID) and coordinated by the University of Aberdeen's Dugald Baird Centre for Research on Women's health.
The initiative in Ghana would involve collaboration between The Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and other institutions. Prof. Ofori-Adjei said the initiative would evaluate and test all complex interventions located in the health system and strengthen capacity in performing evaluations and capacity of policy makers.
He said many women die from pregnancy-related complications that could be prevented. In Ghana, an estimated 515,000 women die each year from these complications.
The maternal mortality rate is now 600 per 100,000 live births. The Director noted that the there was no accurate data on maternal mortality thereby making it impossible to design any effective interventions to address the problem.
He therefore called for the expansion of health care activities that would respond to the real needs of the people. Prof. Ofori-Adjei said the initiative would create linkages with hospitals, constituent schools of College of Health Sciences and other institutions.
Mrs Wendy Freeman, coordinator of the IMPACT, said to bridge the evidence gap of reducing maternal mortality, issues like misconception, lack of access to health services, delay in seeking medical attention and affordability should be addressed.
