First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo
First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo has added her voice to the call for an increased awareness and action towards making pre-eclampsia – high blood pressure during pregnancy- a topical health issue that requires critical attention.
Mrs Akufo Addo stated that country’s data shows a high prevalence of the health condition in some regions of Ghana, notably Greater Accra and Central, where pre-eclampsia is the leading cause of maternal deaths.
According to her, 830 women die from pregnancy and childbirths-related causes each day globally, and “pre-eclampsia coming a close second to post-delivery bleeding, the trend is not soothing to the ear.”
She, therefore, bemoaned the reasons, stating that whilst these deaths are preventable, essential medicines and tools to treat this disorder are often unavailable.
The first lady pledged her support to the campaign aimed at educating pregnant women on the health condition while preventing untimely deaths through simple activities like providing blood pressure testing machines to pregnant women.
Mrs Akufo-Addo was speaking at the launch of the World Pre-eclampsia Day on the theme: ‘Pre-Eclampsia, Be Prepared Before Lightning Strikes’ at the Ridge Hospital in Accra.
The Medical Director for Ridge Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Srofenyo, indicated that pre-eclampsia prevalence at the hospital stands at 11 percent on average, with a case fatality rate of 1 percent.
“In 2017, operational year for example, out of the total number of 6692 women that were delivered of their babies in the hospital, 843 of them representing 12.6 percent suffered from pre-eclampsia, with a case fatality rate of 1.2 percent,” he said.
Dr Srofenyo called for the urgent need to adopt a concerted approach to combating pre-eclampsia at all levels of the health delivery spectrum.
Niyi Ojoulape, UNFPA country representative, explained that the mandate of the UN agency, which is to end preventable maternal deaths, unmet need for family planning and harmful practices against women and girls, includes pre-eclampsia prevention.
“One of the signal functions is administration of parental anti-convulsants (magnesium sulpahte which treats and prevents eclampsia),” he said.
Mr Ojoulape, thus, commended the campaign and called for media support to ensure the message gets to the intended audience.
Pre–eclampsia is a pregnancy complication characterised by high blood pressure and signs of damage to organs, most often the liver and kidneys.
Preeclampsia usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy in women, whose blood pressure had previously been normal.
Symptoms may include nausea or vomiting, decreased urine output and shortness of breath caused by fluid in the lungs as well as severe headaches, changes in vision and upper abdominal pain, usually under the ribs on the right side.
A woman is at a higher risk if she has a personal or family history of pre-eclampsia or has chronic hypertension and that the risk is also higher with a first pregnancy or if a woman is pregnant with her second or third child with a new partner.
An obese woman, a woman carrying two or more foetuses, or carrying an in-vitro pregnancy also has a higher risk of getting pre-eclampsia.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri