Accra, Nov. 5, GNA - The Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Thursday launched a campaign strategy, the Integrated Maternal and Child Health, to complement efforts made so far to reduce Maternal and Child mortality rates. The campaign under the theme: "Healthier Mothers and Children Make a Better Ghana," is expected to adopt a more participatory approach involving society and communities in the delivery of key health messages to bring about the required change.

Dr Isabella Sagoe-Moses, National Coordinator, Child Health Programme, GHS, in an overview at the launch of the campaign strategy, said a house-to-house delivery of services and services at static points such as health facilities and outreach sites would also be adopted in the national immunization programme, to ensure that places that had been left out under previous programmes were covered.

She said minimum packages of interventions would include Vitamin A supplementation to children from six to 59 months and lactating women within eight weeks after delivery, polio vaccination for children from birth to 59 months as well as the de-worming of children from two to five years. Extensive education to encourage and increased patronage for antenatal and post-natal care by pregnant women and lactating mothers as well as the advantages of delivering in health facilities would also form part of the strategy to ensure wider coverage and further reduction of infant and maternal mortality rates.

Dr Sagoe-Moses also said the campaign, which would be from November 12 to 14, 2009, would enhance malaria prevention through wider education on the use of Insecticide Treated Bed Nets and anti-malaria therapies and treatment, importance of family planning to enhance child spacing and reduction of abortion as well as sanitation and general hygiene. She said the GHS was collaborating with the Veterinary Services Department during the campaign period to conduct a census of cats and dogs to provide a comprehensive data for its vaccination programmes, and urged owners of such animals to cooperate with officials when the time came. According to Dr. Agnes Akosua Aidoo, Vice-Chairperson, United Nations Committee on the Right of the Child, said Ghana had done remarkably well in reducing its under-five mortality rate from 111 per 1000 live births in 2003 to 80 in 2008 as recorded by the Demographic and Health Survey. She said over the same period Ghana's infant mortality rate dropped from 64 to 50 per 100,000 live births.

Dr Aidoo said notwithstanding the various successes there was still an urgent need to intensify efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Four target of 40 per 1000 live births for under-five mortality by 2015.

She said Ghana's progress in the overall policy and strategy development of the health sector and other achievements in child health in 2006 were acknowledged by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, when it reviewed Ghana's performance under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. She said the Committee, however, urged the country to do more in the face of the persisting problems of child health including the high number of malnourished, severely stunted and underweight children, the unacceptably high level of maternal mortality of 451 per 100,000 live births and the regional disparities in the provision of health services. Dr Aidoo called for massive investments in the health of women and children and a commitment which would adopt a human right approach to prevent the temptation of relegating such issues of importance to the back. 5 Nov. 09