Website to promote maternal health in Ghana launched
In order to push further the global campaign of working to keep alive mothers and babies, MamaYe has launched a special website to educate and encourage communities to take collective and individual action for pregnant mothers living among them.
MamaYe, a campaign on maternal and child health, under the auspices of the UK Department for International Development, aims to use technology to motivate and mobilise people to take direct action to respond to the maternal and newborn crisis in Ghana.
A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday said the website will serve as a digital platform for maternal and newborn health stakeholders to be educated, empowered and united in their efforts. The website will have features like the latest in news, research and developments from Ghana.
MamaYe website forms part of the continent wide campaign, which will use digital and mobile phone technology to engage ordinary Ghanaians in this most important fight of all – the battle to save our mothers and babies.
The Campaign seeks to overcome the ingrained belief that responsibility for maternal survival rests elsewhere: with ‘the government’ ‘the ministry’ ‘professionals’ ‘the UN’ or foreign donors.
Statistics show that somewhere in Ghana almost 60 women die each week from causes related to pregnancy and birth.
“The hardest pill to swallow is this: that giving life to the country’s next generation is one of the biggest killers’ of Ghana’s women. More often than not it is preventable: uncontrolled bleeding, infection, poor medical care and a lack of education still sit at the very heart of this hidden crisis.” The statement said.
The world’s poorest women are the most vulnerable. Too many babies also die with almost 23,000 a year. This is one baby every 23 minutes. The statement therefore called for more to be done.
In Ghana, 2700 women die each year from pregnancy of childbirth. “The bitter truth is imminent birth for most in our nation can be a distressing experience for expectant mothers and their families,” the statement said.
“We all have the power and the potential to save lives as those taxi drivers who get women to clinics in time for the birth have shown; or as the many who voluntarily give blood, have demonstrated.
“Childbirth is not a disease. We have known for decades what it takes to ensure the survival of women and babies in childbirth. But if our mothers are to survive, then the Ghanaian public must step up, and become more involved and vigilant. MamaYe will provide the evidence, information and tools necessary to ensure this change. And new technology will help Ghanaians to step up in ways that in the past we could only dream of,“ the Country Director for MamaYe Ghana Professor Richard Adanu said.
MamaYe’s website address: www.mamaye.org.gh and on facebook: www.Facebook.com/MamaYeGH.
Source: GNA