MATERNAL, INFANT MORTALITY RATES REDUCE ...In Kadjebi District (PAGE 21)

Story: Emmanuel Modey, Wawaso

SINCE the Ministry of Health opened the Community-Based Health Planning and Service (CHPS) in the Kadjebi District about three years ago, maternal and infant mortality rate has reduced drastically in the CHPS area.
That was the outcome of a research conducted by Dr Kobina Bainson, the Project Co-ordinator of CHPS.
Inaugurating a CHPS zone at Wawaso in the Kadjebi District of the Volta Region, Dr Bainson attributed the success story to the commitment of the nurses to the community and their preparedness to work in remote areas.
Dr Bainson stated that most health problems were created by the people themselves, such as poor eating habits, lack of exercises, drinking contaminated water, refusing to sleep in treated mosquito nets and leaving surroundings unclean.
He called on all stakeholders to join the fight against diseases by intensifying education to ensure healthy life for the people.
Dr Bainson advised the nurses not to impose themselves on the people, since they also had their traditional methods of healing themselves.
“You should see yourselves as learners and not teachers”, he said.
The Kadjebi District Director of Health Services, Ms Joan Eleeza, was happy that two CHPS zones had been opened in the Wawaso CHPS area, the first being the Pepesu zone which was inaugurated in 2003.
She explained that instead of the former system where nurses sat in state health facilities and waited for their clients to visit them, under the CHPS programme, the nurses visited the clients in their homes to provide preventable services.
Ms Eleeza called for a change in lifestyle of the people in order to be free from diseases such as heart problems, stroke, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
She expressed the hope that death from preventable or treatable causes would reduce to the barest minimum.
The Kadjebi District Chief Executive, Mr Kofi Adjei Ntim, assured the District Health Directorate that the assembly would do everything possible to ensure that health initiatives succeeded in the district.
He urged the health service providers to make a lot of sacrifices, be committed to their duties and strive to establish a healthy relationship with the people.
The DCE called on chiefs and churches to assist in spreading the message of healthy lifestyles to their members.