‘By 2030, I would like to see a community of no maternal and child mortality’
‘By 2030, I would like to see a community of no maternal and child mortality’
By Micah Olad, Child Health Now Coordinator, World Vision Ghana
Ashanti Region, GHANA, July 2015 -- An improved health facility, staffed with skilled health professionals, stocked with life-saving medicines and commodities, accessible to all, and in demand by informed mothers and children, this is the dream of Nora Addo and her community in Sekyere East District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. While many would say this is a lofty dream, Nora, her community and millions like them across the globe, are optimistic and motivated to make the ‘world they want’ a reality.
Over the past decade, this region of Ghana, like many other rural and under-resourced areas, has faced many challenges related to maternal, newborn and child health. Road accessibility is limited and some health clinics are housed in temporary and unsitable structures. These challenges tend to discourage people from seeking care.
Nora is resilient, motivated and encouraged to change this.
As a Community Health Nurse, Nora knows firsthand the opportunities and challenges still facing Sekyere East District. She conducts home visits to reach out to those who have not managed to access healthcare. She also runs the child welfare clinic, providing immunisation and growth monitoring, as well as antenatal care for pregnant mothers. Nora educates her community on nutrition, hygiene and other maternal and child health issues. Many of these activities are directly supported by World Vision Ghana. Nora has been partnering with World Vision for over two years to strengthen and expand these health extension services.
So when World Vision decided to host a Citizens’ Hearing in Ogua, Ashanti Region in June, Nora was eager to participate.
‘By 2030, I would like to see a community of no maternal and child mortality. This can only be done by providing a good clinic and constant availability of essential medicines. I would also love to see all mothers and children covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme.’
The Citizens’ Hearings on women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health are open and constructive dialogues that give community members the chance to share recommendations for improved health services with local and national leaders. This form of social accountability serves the double purpose of empowering citizens to know their rights and to hold their leaders to account on commitments made to end the preventable deaths of women, newborns, children and adolescents.
Nora presented the current health situation, highlighted clinic-run activities and outlined challenges that she and other Community Health Nurses face. Her presentations, along with the citizens’ contribution to the dialogue, called on local officials to respond to and prioritise the health needs of the community.
While the community have little knowledge of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or their forthcoming replacement, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), they are experts on the local health system. While acknowledging the progress made by Ghana on the MDGs, Nora and the community were quick to say more needed to be done to finish the job of the MDGs and go beyond, to end all preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths, as outlined in the SDGs. Children and adults participating in the Citizens’ Hearing called for an improved health facility and an increase in the number of skilled health professionals at the clinic, specifically midwives.
Nora added ‘By 2030, I would like to see a community of no maternal and child mortality. This can only be done by providing a good clinic and constant availability of essential medicines. I would also love to see all mothers and children covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme.’
When asked what would be needed to be done to achieve this the community said, ‘more resources would have to be allocated to the health sector, more health education and promotion would be needed to change the behaviour of the community.’
These outcomes from the local Citizens’ Hearing in Ogua and another in Ejura, were brought to the National Citizens’ Hearing hosted by World Vision Ghana and the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights on July 29. This brought together citizens, civil society, and government, including the Minister of Health, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service and many other key decision makers. In total the local and the national Citizens’ Hearings engaged over 570 people in these vital discussions.
Hon. Alex Segbefia, Minister of Health, speaks at the National Citizens’ Hearing where he promised to contextualise and roll over all unmet health-related MDGs.
The Honourable Alex Segbefia, Minister of Health, confirmed that Ghana would contextualise and roll over the unmet health MDGs into national planning for implementation of the SDGs. Dr. Afisa Zakaria, the Ministry of Health’s Director for Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation noted that a number of interventions were being pursued, including bringing healthcare closer to the communities, monitoring pregnant women, supporting delivery and expanding ambulance services.
When asked what would be needed to ensure these desires manifest, the community responded, ‘more resources would have to be allocated to the health sector, more health education and promotion would be needed to change the behaviour of the community.’
‘The goals are quite many and call for more work by the countries in comparison to the MDGs,’ said Nora, who added ‘the community hopes for improved well-being and health outcomes as indicated in the SDGs.’ It seems both communities and elected officials are working to make those goals a reality.
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