By Eunice Hilda Ampomah, GNA
Accra, June 19, GNA – Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, the President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industries, on Tuesday paid glowing tributes to both local and international partners who have contributed to the promotion of child health in the country.
The partners including the United States Agency for International Development, the UN Population Fund, the UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organisation were honored for devoting substantial human and capital resource to improving child health.
Nana Dankawoso I, who is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Princess Marie Louise Hospital acknowledged the partners on Tuesday during the “Second Cicely Williams’ Memorial Lecture” organised in Accra by the Hospital in collaboration with the Paediatric Society of Ghana to discuss the state of child health in the country and how it could be improved.
Speaking on the theme, “Child Health in Ghana: The Role of Partnerships”, he said there was abundant evidence in literature to the effect that such partnership models had led to significant improvement in both child wellbeing and parenting and the interventions were cost-effective.
Child health partnerships, he said, particularly suited to addressing the large numbers of social and economic factors affecting the wellbeing of children.
“Partnerships ensure the continuum of service provision even beyond the confines of the hospital, and achieved maximum benefit because of shared expertise, knowledge and resources,” he said.
Nana Dankawoso I urged the citizenry to desist from asking politicians for material things instead of holding them accountable to their obligations such as the provision of quality healthcare for the ordinary Ghanaian.
He also encouraged individuals and organisations to help in the registration of children onto the National Health Insurance, as research had shown that many children were still not registered to enjoy the benefits of acquiring proper healthcare.
Dr Frank Owusu Sekyere, a Paediatrician from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital speaking on the topic, “Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) in Children; How Big is the Burden,” said 1.2 million children and adolescents died globally in 2002 due to NCDs.
He said many children became obese at age 10 while others became diabetic before attaining age 15.
Referring to a report from the World Health Organisation in 1990, he said the leading cause of death among children were pneumonia, diarrhoea, and perinatal conditions.
Dr Sekyere said globally, the burden of NCDs was on the rise and it added to the burden of communicable diseases in developed countries.
He said it was unfortunate how the country had no clear health and social policies towards the control of NCDs among the younger population.
Professor Onike Rodrigues, a Lecturer at the Department of Child Health, University of Ghana, addressing attendees on “Quality of Care for Children; Human Resource Challenges”, said less than 40 per cent of nursing mothers could continue to breastfeed their babies for up to six months in the country.
However, she said breastfeeding had contributed immensely to improving child survival.
Death of children per day was 550, she said, and urged paediatricians and the government to dedicate much concern and resources to the development of child health and reduction in the rate of child mortality.
Prof Rodrigues said according to UNICEF, among the contributors of child illness and death were violent discipline (physical and emotional) which constituted 94 per cent, early learning (94 per cent), use of unimproved sanitation (85.1 per cent) and children in child labour (22 per cent).
GNA
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