Manifesto Brief of the Day

Manifesto Brief for the Day

NDC:  Reduce cases of maternal and neonatal deaths by a further 50%

Effective public health care system is central to the prosperity of every modern society. In Ghana, the implementation of many interventions in the health sector have contributed to a large extent, to improved health care delivery. However, key challenges that remain include the relatively high maternal mortality that only decreased from 760 to 380 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births from 1990 to 2013, while infant mortality rate was 49 deaths per 1,000 in 2012 for instance. This manifesto pledge is an indication of the acknowledgement that there is a great deal of work to be done in order to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths in Ghana.

 

CPP: Continue to improve the ante-natal and maternity services and develop our child health services’

The annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause, particularly pregnancy related deaths is still very alarming across Ghana in spite of many interventions. Records from the Northern Regional Health Directorate for instance, revealed that 57 maternal deaths were recorded for the mid-year of 2015 alone, while 212 maternal deaths were recorded in 2012. These make the promise by the CPP very important for the ordinary Ghanaian who wants to see a marked improvement, particularly in maternal deaths in Ghana.

NPP: Strengthen the flagship Community Health Planning Services (CHPS) programme in the areas of community participation, infrastructure and financing, quality service delivery by skilled health staff, supervision and monitoring, and surveillance and disease control

Ghana’s political stability since the reintroduction of democracy in 1992 has enabled the successful implementation of many health care interventions such as the National Health Insurance Scheme that have resulted in improved health care delivery in Ghana. However, many challenges still confront the country within the health sector. For instance, though under the CHPS compounds are expected to have facilities such as water, electricity, motorbikes, well furnished rooms for health care workers, this is often not the case in most communities where the facilities are located. An NPP government would have to focus on creating the congenial working environment for the community health workers to stay and work effectively in these communities where health care services are most needed.

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