DO AWAY WITH NEGATIVE TENDENCIES (SPREAD, NOV 27)

THE FIRST Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, has called on Ghanaians to do away with all negative tendencies that account for the high mortality in the country.
Those tendencies, she said, included certain cultural practices such as the desire of couples to have children of a particular sex, which compelled them to have more children, at the risk of the women, and myths associated with family planning by a section of society, as a result of which many couples shied away from it.
The First Lady made the call at the national launch in Koforidua on Wednesday of a campaign for the acceleration of reduction in maternal and new-born deaths.
The gathering, which formed part of an African Union celebration of the event on the theme, “Ghana Cares: No woman should die while giving life”, was attended by the Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor; the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; his deputy, Baba Jamal; the Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory; the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo; a representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr Daniel Ketez, as well as a representative of the AU, Madam Biance Gawanas.
Also present were traditional rulers from almost all the five traditional areas in the region, including the Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre (Prof) Oti Boateng, who chaired the function.
According to Mrs Mills, although there had been educational campaigns to reduce maternal and new-born deaths in the country over the past 31 years, the death rate was still high.
The First Lady called for an intensive educational campaign on family planning, as well as negative cultural practices that led to maternal mortality.
She also called on the Ministry of Health to ensure that pregnant women in rural areas regularly had access to professional care, adding that the district assemblies must also collaborate with the GHS to operate the community-based health planning and services (CHIPS) in the rural areas for the benefit of expectant women.
Dr Kunbuor said globally, maternal deaths stood at 600,000 annually, while that of new-born babies was 3,000,000.
He said Ghana was taking steps in line with initiatives of the AU to reduce maternal and new-born deaths by creating public awareness of the issue, as well as providing the necessary support.
He called on medical doctors and midwives to do their best, in the face of workload challenges, to be as caring as the tenets of their profession demanded.
Dr Ketez said women should adopt family planning, while the expectant ones should be provided with emergency services to be helped to deliver by only qualified midwives and traditional birth attendants.