World Vision intervenes to address maternal mortality

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and officials of World Vision (WV) Ghana, on Tuesday visited the Kpukpalgu Community in the Zabzugu District to witness the WV’s intervention in preventing maternal mortality.

Mr Hubert Charles, WV National Director, speaking at a durbar of chiefs and people of the area, said it was necessary to engage government agencies in their projects because their work was to complement the District Health Management Team carrying out policies of the Government.

He said WV was placing more emphasis on its Child Health Now (CHN) campaign, which aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality from preventable infections and under-nutrition among mothers, newborns and children less than five years in poor communities.

He said the campaign also aimed at supporting the vulnerable in society.

Mr Charles urged government to make policy changes on maternal and child health to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs 4 and 5), and also increase access of the poor to quality health services delivery.

He suggested to government to equitably distribute health supplies to all communities to bridge the gap between rural-urban health delivery.

Madam Elizabeth Kopri, Zabzugu District Director of Health, said delays in attending to health facilities, refusing to access healthcare, lack of transport and the absence of nearby health facilities, as well as lack of trained midwives were some of the causes of most maternal mortality cases in the district.

She appealed to the WV and other stakeholders to come to their aid to help identify the barriers that limited access to quality maternal health services, adding that all their facilities were in deplorable state and also lacked medical equipment to cater for pregnant women.

Mr Joseph Yelieh Chire, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee, commended WV for its health interventions in the country, which complemented government’s efforts at improving healthcare delivery.

He admitted that the Kpukpalgu Community Health Facility needed government’s intervention and assured that all the concerns raised would be discussed at the Committee level in Parliament to find solutions.