SAVE OUR MOTHERS NOW (JULY 17, 2009)

REPORTS from the Northern Region of the high maternal and neonatal deaths in the area should serve as a wake-up call to health professionals and the government to put in place the necessary interventions to deal with the situation.
A story carried by the GHANAIAN TIMES yesterday quoted the Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Kwesi Twumasi, as saying that it was unacceptable that 90 women died last year during childbirth.
He told a health forum organised by the Coalition of NGOs on health in Tamale that the high death rates was due to the refusal of pregnant women in the area to attend antenatal and postnatal clinics.
Another factor, according to the regional health director, was the poor road network which caused undue delay in conveying expectant mothers to the nearest health facility.
The Public Health Unit of the Ghana Health Service, manned by doctors and public health workers, has a mandate to educate the people on things to do in order to stay healthy.
In this day and age, our women should not lose their lives during childbirth because advancements made in science and technology can help to deal with even the most complex health challenge.
The DAILY GRAPHIC wonders whether those women who lost their lives during childbirth were not entitled to the free maternal health care under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Nine years after the declaration of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to make health accessible to all by 2000, we should not be faced with the tragedy of losing our mothers during childbirth. The rise in maternal deaths in the Northern Region and perhaps in other areas not yet reported will hinder efforts at bringing down maternal deaths to levels in line with the globally accepted figure.
In Ghana, the maternal mortality ratio is estimated at 451 deaths per 100,000 live births, about 40 times the maternal mortality ratio in the US. Also in sub-Saharan Africa, a woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death is a staggering one in 22, compared with one in 8,000 in industrialised countries.
It is also untenable for expectant mothers to lose their lives because the road network to health facilities is in a very bad state.
The high rate of maternal deaths pose a challenge to our efforts at attaining the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, calls on the government to take steps to reduce maternal deaths and protect newborn babies in order to boost poverty reduction strategies.
The situation in the Northern Region and other deprived areas is not out of control. Fortunately, majority of the causes of maternal deaths are avoidable if pregnant women are encouraged to attend health facilities regularly and follow the pieces of advice given to them by health professionals.
Since research has established that the causes of maternal deaths are not just poverty or financial difficulties to access health care but risks associated with having more than five children, it is about time the health authorities intensified education on family planning.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the health authorities to initiate policy interventions such as the training of more health professionals, the retooling of our health facilities, as well as improving our road network, to give better access to health, especially by vulnerable groups, including pregnant women.
The alarming statistics on maternal deaths from Northern Ghana should be addressed now to give hope to women.