First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo
First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo’s led project for the construction of a maternity ward at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has received positive response from Ghanaians, with the project raising over GH¢6.1m as at May 31, 2017.
The ‘Save a Child, Save a Mother’ project in addition to the amount raised has an outstanding amount of cash pledges of GH¢1,489,500 yet to be redeemed by organisations and individuals, according to Deloitte and Touche, following two fundraising events in Accra and Kumasi.
The project has also received in-kind pledges and donations, including cement, electrical cables, windows, pipes, babies’ cots, hospital beds and incubators.
The new mother and baby unit is in direct response to severe congestion in the current maternity unit which has inadequate space and medical equipment to cope with the volume of births, surgeries and neonatal care at KATH, leading to high volumes of avoidable death of babies and mothers.
According to authorities at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, most of the deaths are attributed to higher than normal infections and cross-contamination due to lack of space and equipment.
Lack of hygiene is also a factor, as there is inadequate space that practically impedes the cleaning of the wards due to overcrowding.
The new baby unit, a 1,500 square metre one-storey building with the capacity to take five times the current number, will solve the current capacity of KATH and give it additional capacity to grow over the next five years while they wait for the completion of a 43-year-old uncompleted building by the government.
“The urgency of the situation demanded that we build a new unit as an immediate solution while we wait for the government to complete the old building which would take about two years by conservative estimates. The longer we wait, the more babies and mothers we lose. The current situation of averaging the loss of four babies a day is simply unacceptable,” the first lady explained.
Whilst expressing her gratitude for the positive response, the first lady is encouraging Ghanaians to continue to donate, adding that the minimum amount needed is GH ¢10,000,000 for the KATH project, while additional funds will be needed for similar projects her office intends to execute in the health sector across the country.
The mother and baby unit fundraising drive is a collaboration between the Rebecca Foundation and Multimedia Group.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri