Stakeholders pledge to curb newborn deaths

Stakeholders at a Regional Executive Forum of Newborn Care organized by the Ghana Health Service and UNICEF in Bolgatanga have pledged their commitment to help tackle the high incidence of newborn deaths in the country.

The forum which was aimed at disseminating the implementation of National Newborn Strategy for 2014 to 2018 was to sensitize non- health partners in the area of newborn babies and to seek their collaboration and support to tackle the menace.

Among the stakeholders who attended the Regional forum were Municipal and District Chief Executives, District Coordinating Directors, Coalition of NGOs in Health, Religious bodies, Traditional Authorities’, District Directors of Health and the media.

The Municipal and District Chief Executives pledged they would also contribute by budgeting for the newborn health care in their respective jurisdictions.

The Paramount Chief of Bongo, Baba Salifu Aleemyarum, who represented the Regional House of Chiefs, pledged that they would embark upon sensitization in their communities to stop negative cultural practices that cause newborn deaths.

Dr Peter Baffoe, the Medical Director of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, stated that the situation in Ghana was not the best and mentioned the main causes of newborn deaths as pre-term births, complication during childbirth and infections contracted during newborn periods.

He said 75 per cent of the causes were preventable and called for efforts from all stakeholders to help tackle the problem.

He expressed regret that priority was not given to newborn care in budgeting and planning just like it is done with maternal death and under 5 mortality and called on the government and policy makers to give equal attention to Newborn Care.

Dr Hari Banskota, UNICEF representative, called for a renewed commitment from all the stakeholders to allocate sufficient resources to support all mothers in the districts and remote areas.

He called for training of more skilled health personnel and equitable distribution of them to provide quality health care to mothers during pregnancies and after birth and the newborn during their first month of life.