The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is set to strengthen follow-up care for pregnant women, mothers and newborns in underserved communities following the donation of three vehicles by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
The vehicles are expected to improve the ability of health teams to travel to remote communities, monitor patients after discharge and identify complications early under the Improving Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAHN) programme and Networks of Practice (NoP).
The donation will support health interventions in the Ashanti, Central and Eastern regions.
Country Director of the KOICA Ghana Office, Mr Dong Wan Woo, said the vehicles formed part of efforts to improve health service delivery by strengthening supervision, coordination and monitoring at regional, district and community levels.
He said the vehicles, procured by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), would provide health workers with the mobility needed to reach facilities and communities more effectively.
Mr Woo disclosed that the handover was part of a wider procurement package, with an additional 38 items of equipment currently being procured to support the health interventions.
UNICEF Deputy Country Director, Ms Emmanuelle Collet, said improved mobility would strengthen supervision and coordination within the Networks of Practice and enable health teams to provide better support to health facilities.
“This will enhance the ability of health teams to reach facilities and communities, improve service delivery, and support better health outcomes for women, newborns, children and adolescents,” she said.
Director of the Family Health Division of the GHS, Dr Kennedy Brightson, said the vehicles would be particularly useful in reaching communities where distance and poor access to health facilities could delay treatment.
He said some newborns developed complications after being discharged from health facilities but were unable to return promptly for medical attention, sometimes forcing families to resort to traditional remedies.
“Under the strengthened approach, health workers would be better positioned to reach mothers and babies in their homes, monitor their health and link those requiring further care to appropriate health facilities,” he said.
Dr Brightson said stronger community follow-up would allow health workers to detect danger signs among pregnant women and newborns earlier and facilitate timely referrals before conditions became severe.
He said effective monitoring was therefore critical to reducing preventable complications associated with pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.
On maternal deaths, Dr Brightson said the GHS was intensifying interventions to make pregnancy and childbirth safer for women.
He said the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response system provided a mechanism for investigating maternal deaths, auditing cases, identifying contributing factors and implementing corrective measures.
The collaboration between the Government of Ghana, KOICA and UNICEF is expected to strengthen the Networks of Practice approach and contribute to building a more resilient and equitable health system, particularly for communities with limited access to healthcare.
