PSG calls for holistic care for children, adolescents
The Paediatric Society of Ghana (PSG) has said children and adolescents everywhere in the country should receive appropriate, effective and responsive healthcare with a refocus on non-communicable disease prevention, treatment and management.
This was contained in a communique issued by the society after the just-ended Annual General Scientific and Meeting (AGSM) held in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
The meeting was on the theme: “Leaving No Child Behind – Advancing Equitable Healthcare for Children and Adolescents with Non-Communicable Diseases.”
The communiqué, signed last Monday by the society’s President, Dr Hilda Mantebea Boye, called on key stakeholders to prioritise healthcare infrastructure and workforce development. It also urged stronger collaboration with international organisations, private sector entities, traditional authorities and faith- and community-based organisations to deliver holistic care for children and adolescents where it is most needed.
Commitment
The communique reaffirmed the GPS’s commitment and advocacy to sustain investment in research capacity building as a critical strategy for improving child and adolescent health outcomes and responding effectively to the rising burden of non-communicable diseases.
“The society recognises that robust research infrastructure, skilled researchers and evidence-based interventions are essential for addressing the complex health challenges facing Ghanaian children,” it maintained.
Subsequently, the PSG called on the government, academic institutions, funding agencies and development partners to prioritise and support paediatric research initiatives that generate locally relevant data to inform policy.
That, the communique said, was also necessary to strengthen healthcare delivery systems and ultimately improve the quality of life for all children and adolescents in the country.
Meanwhile, the PSG reiterated its call for the immediate cessation of illegal, environmentally destructive mining activities, saying it continues to degrade forests, contaminate water bodies and destroy farmlands at an alarming rate.
The trend, it said, posed a grave threat to the public, environmental sustainability and the well-being of present and future generations.
“Let us protect our children, our future from the devastation of galamsey,” it said.
The communique underscored the need for strengthened policy enforcement, enhanced intersectoral collaboration and active community participation to curb the menacing practice.
“The PSG further calls for deliberate health interventions to protect children, who are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and to ensure a safer and healthier environment for all in Ghana,” it said.
Non-communicable diseases
The communique revealed that children and adolescents continue to suffer a double burden of disease, both communicable and non-communicable.
However, it said, efforts towards managing the latter remained dire, resulting in increased morbidity and deaths among that group.
It noted that the burden of non-communicable diseases was distributed unequally, with poverty and poor health-seeking behaviours adversely affecting health outcomes.
Therefore, the society called on the government and key stakeholders to integrate paediatric non-communicable diseases into the national health plans, strengthen the health workforce and expand health financing and insurance.
For instance, it said, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund could cover diagnostics, screening and essential medicines care in such areas as erythropoietin (hormone that kidneys naturally make to stimulate the production of red blood cells), insulin, hydroxyurea (medicine that can help people who have sickle cell disease), cancer care and full dialysis care for children and adolescents.
“We also entreat the government to build capacity at district hospitals and polyclinics for basic non-communicable care and referral,” the communique added.
