HEALTH OF WOMEN, CHILDREN DEAR TO GOVT (PAGE 30)

The Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Betty Busumtwi-Sam, has stated that the health of children and pregnant women is very important to the government.
Consequently, the government would do everything in its power to reduce maternal and infant mortality.
Launching this year’s Child Health Promotion Week in Takoradi, she said despite the modest achievements made in that area, there was still a lot to be done if the country was to achieve the health sector aspect of the Millennium Development Goals.
The deputy minister said: “The health of our babies and pregnant women is of great concern to the government and it would do everything possible to sustain and improve the health of these target groups as well as that of all Ghanaians.”
Ms Busumtwi-Sam said it was a fact that the intellectual development of children depended on their health and other factors.
She asked pregnant women and nursing mothers to comply with the directives and advice given them by medical officers to ensure that children were not attacked by preventable diseases.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kumbour, said it would take the collective efforts of all to ensure that children received the necessary health care delivery services at the right time to achieve the aim of the week-long celebration.
“Let me remind all that it is our responsibility to ensure that children in our care are growing and developing as recommended by the caregivers,” he said.
He said the child health records, popularly known as the “weighing card”, was specifically designed to assist health care delivery.
That, he said, would enable the caregivers to detect any problems pertaining to the growth of children early enough.
Dr Kumbour said although the theme for this year’s celebrations placed emphasis on child growth and development, he was happy that the service delivered during the celebration included immunisation, the administration of Vitamin A supplement, monitoring of growth and birth registration.
The deputy minister said although these services were already available and being rendered daily at all public health facilities and other outreach points, the week-long celebration was to provide the platform to showcase and deliver those services better and also ensure wider coverage.