Government urged to complete abandoned maternity blocks

Government and stakeholders in Health have been urged to continue with the construction of abandoned maternity blocks in some health institutions in the country.

Mrs Christiana Mawusi Atsu, Chief Executive Officer of African Mother and Child Health Foundation, who made the call, cited the Tema General and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals, whose maternity blocks had been abandoned for seven and 40 years respectively.

She gave instances where pregnant women slept or delivered on the floors or benches, since there were no beds, and mothers who just gave birth were either paired on a bed, or four new babies shared one adult bed with their mothers standing by their sides.

Mrs Atsu, who made the call at a press conference in Accra, said the two abandoned maternity blocks were identified during a visit to the hospitals, as part of the Foundation's activities dubbed "operation name tag."

The Foundation launched the "Operation Wear Your Name Tag," project to help prevent the invasion of imposters and other dangerous criminals who wear health professionals' uniforms to commit crime.

It is also to eliminate negligence on the part of health professionals, as their names will be clearly identified by the patients for professional misconduct or otherwise.

Mrs Atsu noted, however, that improving health care went beyond name tag, and urged health professionals and the public to attach importance to issues on health.

Touching on other matters, the CEO said the Foundation had observed that current approach by government in managing the scheme would not be sustainable because of over emphasis on curative health management at the expense of preventive health management, a major weakness in tackling health problems in the country.

Mrs Atsu also expressed concern about the future of 61 pupils who got pregnant within two months in the Akatsi North district.

She called for a National Health Policy Commission that would be autonomous and non-partisan, free from political manipulations, constituting representatives from the National House of Chiefs, the National Peace Council, policy advocacy groups, health practitioners and other think tanks.