First Lady calls for clear guidelines on maternal health
The First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, has called on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to put in place clear and transparent guidelines in its procedures towards delivering health care, especially at the maternal units, to improve efficiency.
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She said that had become necessary to ensure that babies were not swapped or declared stillborn when they were still alive.
Mrs Mahama said recent allegations of negligence on the part of some health professionals which led to instances of missing babies at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi were a wake-up call to tighten the systems and procedures in healthcare facilities to avoid such lapses.
The First Lady was speaking during a visit to the Walewale District Hospital as part of a three-day visit to the Northern Region to present medical supplies to seven hospitals in the region.
Presentations
The facilities which benefitted from the donations were the Bole, Damango, Tolon, Yagaba-Kubori and the Walewale District hospitals, the Savelugu/Nanton Municipal Hospital and the Nalerigu Baptist Mission Hospital.
The medical supplies, worth thousands of cedis, included hospital beds, mattresses, ambulances, bicycles, towels, gloves, surgical kits, crutches and electric stabilizers.
They were received by the Director of the Northern Regional Health Services, Dr Jacob Mahama, at separate ceremonies.
The First Lady also visited the Gambaga Witches Camp, Tamale, and the Anfaani Children’s Home where she also presented items such as diapers, mosquito nets, food items, beverage, wax print, among many others.
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As part of the visit, Mrs Mahama also paid a courtesy call on some chiefs in the region, including the Overlord of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, Yoo Mahama Abubakari, and Tretumba Borasa, the King of Gonjaland.
Support rural hospitals
Mrs Mahama commended health professionals, especially those in the rural areas, saying, “health workers are life savers in our rural communities, and need the right equipment and facilities to work with.”
She urged philanthropists and non-governmental organisations to help in complementing the efforts of the government at providing quality and accessible health care.
She said a healthy nation was a wealthy nation, hence the need to support health facilities to improve on their work.
Touching on girl-child issues, Mrs Mahama encouraged women in the various communities she visited to educate their female children to enable them to become prominent people to safeguard the interests of their societies.
Regional Minister
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Mohammed Muniru Limuna, who accompanied the First Lady throughout the visit, said the government was to build a six- unit lecture hall, a two-unit bungalow and a modern dormitory for the Damango Hospital Nursing Training School.
He commended the First Lady for the donation to the Northern Region, saying the equipment and other medical supplies to the various hospitals would contribute immensely to health care in the region.