Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health (GCNH) has asked government to contract out health promotional services to NGO's which have comparative advantage in the area of education and dissemination of development informationRecognizing that government lacks adequate resources needed to provide mothers and babies proper health care services before, during and after delivery, the coalition believes that NGO's can help close the gap.
A maternal health survey conducted in 2007 indicates that for every 100,000 live births, 451 mothers die as a result of a variety of complications, some of which include unsafe abortions, excessive bleeding, enclampsia, obstructed labour, and malaria and anaemia during pregnancy.
As for babies, 40% of deaths occur within the first 24 hours of live, and 75% occur within the first 7 days after birth. Neonatal deaths also account for 60% of infant deaths, and 40% of all under 5 deaths.
In Ghana, the proportion of under-five deaths that are neonatal rose from 26% in 1984-1988 to 39% in 1999-2003, indicating no decline in two decades.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition at a press conference in Accra the Executive Director of Society for Women Against Aids (SWAA) Mrs. Cecilia Lodonu-Senoo also noted that increasing the involvement of NGO in maternal and neonatal health could speed up Ghana's quest to achieve goals 4 and 5 of the United Nations sponsored Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which are to reduce child and maternal mortality rates.
Specifically, the goals aim to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds, and the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters, as well as achieving universal access to reproductive health by the year 2015.
According to the coalition, the biggest challenges Ghana face on its way to achieving these goals are funding and personnel, particularly in rural areas. "Most of the deaths are occurring in rural areas and those are the areas which lack access to skilled personnel and health care facilities," said Selorme Kofi Azumah, of Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights.
"Right now most of our professionals are located in Accra and Kumasi."That's why the coalition is asking NGO's to send people to rural areas. "Due to government policies such as free maternal delivery, number of clients have increased but the number of personnel is still the same," he continued.
"We need to expand infrastructure to keep up with the increase." As far as funding is concerned, the coalition was adamant that when it comes to maternal and neonatal health, Ghana needn't depend solely on external funding."How long can we continue to wait for a donation before we sit down and make a plan?" said Solomon Commerade Onubuogu, Vice Chairman of the Coalition.
"There are arenas to generate more funds even locally before waiting for assistance."The coalition believes that there are several opportunities now for civil society to take advantage of so they can be strong players in the health sector of Ghana.
It stated that CSOs can advocate the provision of equitable services to communities and that the practical experience of CSOs offers an excellent opportunity to crystallize and articulate problems facing the ordinary people with whom they work.
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