Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu in a symbolic handover of the anaesthetic machines to Dr Gloria Quansah Asare and Peter Yeboah
The level of family planning uptake and reproductive healthcare services in the country has increased significantly during the period of 2016, Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu, has indicated.
According to him, Ghana’s family planning indicator rose from 28.4 percent in 2015 to 33.5 percent in 2016, representing 18 percent upward movement.
“There was also an increase ANC+ visit during the same period by 0.2 percent with resultant increase in skilled delivery by 0.5 percent,” he stated.
Mr Aboagye Gyedu further observed that facility delivery had reached 73 percent as at 2014 with resultant increased in skilled delivery by 34 percentage points during the same period.
He said the reproductive health indicators for 2014 also showed that 97 percent of women in Ghana received antenatal care from a skilled provider.
Mr Aboagye Gyedu disclosed this during a short ceremony to hand over 70 anaesthetic machines to health agencies under the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) Accelerated Framework (MAF) project.
He said the improvement in the country’s family planning and reproductive health indicators was due to investments made by donor partners under the MAF project to strengthen family planning interventions and improve maternal and child healthcare in the country.
“The efforts of the development partners are yielding results and the ministry is grateful to them for believing in us to turn the situation around. We are grateful to our development partners – EU and DANIDA- for their support in providing these essential equipment and hope that they will be put to effective use; and maintained properly,” he said.
Mr Aboagye Gyedu, however, explained that despite the gains, Ghana was unable to meet the MDGs on maternal and child health.
He said the ministry would, therefore, consolidate the gains made so far under the MAF project and quickly implement various recommendations made on maternal neonatal and child health for better health outcomes for mothers and children.
Dr Gloria Quansah Asare, Deputy Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Peter Yeboah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), representing the implementing partners, expressed their appreciation to the ministry for its role in ensuring better healthcare services for Ghanaians.
They also pledged to use the equipment for the purpose for which they were donated.
The MAF project which ends this year has so far contributed GH¢162.6m to improve maternal and child health in the country.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri