NGO to monitor progress on maternal health

The Ghana Coalition of Non Governmental Organisation in Health sector (GCNH) is to embark on a project aimed at monitoring and assessing the status of various health facilities, vis-a-vis the level of services being provided to help reduce the high maternal mortality rate.

The project, being carried out with sponsorship from Star Ghana, is to be rolled out on pilot basis in three municipalities within the Greater Accra region.

The municipalities are Ashaiman, Ga West and La-Kwantanan/Madina. Chairperson of the Coalition, Reverend (Mrs) Anna Brantuo said the project, which would be carried out on selected public health facilities, would start in October, under a two year programme, to review efforts of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Accelerated Framework (MAF) action plan developed by the Ministry of Health, development partners and other stakeholders.

During a stakeholders meeting held in Accra on Tuesday, Rev Brantuo said the monitoring project would also serve as a data collection tool that would help review strategies under the MAF, which aims at improving maternal health at both community and health care facility levels through evidence-based, feasible and cost effective interventions “These would further help achieve accelerated reduction in maternal and new born deaths.”

She said members of the Coalition had started the project in two other regions, Ashanti and Upper West, and expressed hope that it would be replicated in other regions in future, based on availability of funds.

The meeting, which brought together stakeholders from the three municipalities and other members of the Coalition, was to solicit and harness stakeholders support for effective monitoring of MAF implementation in the Greater Accra region.

Mr Braimah Abdulai, Vice-Chairperson, of the Coalition, said the MDG 5 mandates Ghana to reduce maternal mortality from 451 to 185 per 100,000 births by 2015 “but from the look of things it will be difficult for Ghana to attain that feat by that time”.

He said under the MAF, there were three key priority interventions on family planning, skilled delivery and emergency obstetric and newborn care, which needed to be prioritized and implemented to ensure that MDG5 was attained.

He said under the MAF, government needed to ensure contraceptive security, improve access to and quality of newborn services in facilities and upgrade equipment, drugs and supplies and infrastructure in maternity wards, as per need identified in emergency services survey, all aimed at reducing overall maternal mortality in homes, facilities and institutions.