The Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Winfred Ofosu has revealed that a total of 79 women died during child birth in the Upper East Region between 2016 and 2017.
Speaking at the regional launch of Girls’ Iron-folate Tablet Supplementation (GIFTS) programme in Bolgatanga Wednesday, Dr. Ofosu said 36 deaths were recorded in 2016 but the figure strangely soared to 43 deaths this year thus bringing the total number of deaths to 79 within the two years.
He attributed those deaths infections due to induced abortion at unhygienic places, poor road network, hypertensive conditions, anaemia, complications and sometimes internal factors within health facilities.
Dr. Ofosu, therefore, said it was against this background that GIFTS was introduced with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to ensure adolescent girls were given the needed education and support to avoid future what their mothers were going through now.
“The decision to introduce this intervention is informed by the high level of anaemia among adolescent girls. This situation is further worsened every month with menstruation where they lose blood. According to the 2014 Ghana Demographic Health Survey report, anaemia among women in the region is 39.6%.” He revealed
He said although other factors aside the lack of iron-folate such as poor diet, intestinal warms, malaria, blood diseases like sickle cell anaemia, lack of other vitamins like vitamin A, Vitamin B12 contributed to anaemia in the population, Iron-Folate deficiency was by far the major contributor.
According to him: “A lot of our women who die as a result of child birth die through bleeding. And we have observed that women that have sufficient blood, even during child birth when they bleed heavily, they are able to survive. But those that have insufficient blood, small bleeding, they are not able to cope and often they die.”
Dr. Ofosu observed that anaemia in school children was immense and included learning problems or disabilities and low physical activities and stressed that anaemia was not limited to adolescent girls alone but boys as well but reiterated the girls were much affected because the menstruated every month and that led to blood loss.
The GIFTS intervention was intended to reach about 57,538 both in-school adolescent girls and close to 78,730 out-of-school adolescent girls in the region. To ensure the smooth take off of the intervention, 1,076 teachers and health workers have been trained through the all 13 districts in the region to support the weekly administration of the Iron-Folic Acid (IFA) supplements to adolescent girls between 10 and 19 years old.
While in-school adolescent girls would receive their supplements in their schools on weekly basis, out-of-school girls would receive theirs on monthly basis at health facilities nearer them. the regional director assured that measures to ensure the beneficiaries take the medicines have been put in place as the would be directly monitored by the teachers in the case of those in school and by their parents in the case of those who are out of school.
Mr. Rockson Bukari Ayine, Upper East Regional minister who launched the programme, advised beneficiaries to fully participate and adhere to taking the supplements diligently for good health, growth and development.
While calling on the Ghana Education Service to include the programme in on its academic colander and mobilize girls to take the supplements, the minister also encourage parents and guardians to see the need for the exercise and lend their support.
Source:a1radioonline.com/Ghana
