Give newborns a right to life

Every person has the right to life, not least newborn babies who are helpless and depend primarily on their mothers and the world around them to survive.

It is to ensure the good health and survival of babies and children that every nation, including ours, together with donor agencies such as UNICEF, implements varied programmes for all children.

It is, therefore, surprising that in spite of all the programmes implemented and the strides made, it is reported that many health facilities across the country do not have specialised equipment and supplies designed for the care of babies within the first month of their lives.

It is generally acknowledged that the critical period for babies’ survival is usually during the first month of birth and so for the health sector to lack such important equipment and supplies fit for the care of babies is pathetic. It is as though babies are doomed to die, especially when statistics from UNICEF indicate that in Ghana more than half of infant deaths occur one month after birth.

Indeed, if every year about 30,000 newborns in the country die before they attain one month, it is a very high rate of death, especially when a lot could be done to save the lives of the helpless children.

For those babies who survive, they continue to stare death in the face, as UNICEF has indicated that one in every 12 children dies before reaching his or her fifth birthday.

It is heart-rending for children to continue to die in a middle-income country such as Ghana due to the unavailability of health facilities to adequately care for premature babies, those with infections, as well as ailments which put their lives at risk.

It is gratifying to note that health personnel do their best to improvise to help save the children. But much more can be done to ensure that a child born in any part of the country actually has the best opportunity to grow into an adult and not waste away as a result of poor medical supplies, equipment, poverty or care from health personnel.
Obviously, it is to give life to the numerous children who die unduly at the start of life that the First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, has launched a campaign to raise funds to build a new  Mother and Baby Care Unit for the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi under the Save a Child, Save a Mother project.

Every nation needs its children to continue to develop. It is, therefore, important that special attention be paid to the good health and survival of newborns and young children, for they cannot wait, as any delay in getting prompt health care could lead to unnecessary deaths.