Oxfam, an international non-governmental organization (NGO), on Monday donated 200 mobile phones, 1000 copies of health education booklets and 1000 posters to some people and organizations in the Upper East Region.

Traditional Births Attendants (TBAs), Community Health Committees (CHCs), and Ghana Health Service received the package under Oxfam’s phase two of the Maternal Health Project in the region.

The donation was to facilitate the work of the beneficiaries, particularly the TBAs and CHCs.

Oxfam together with local partners, including Participatory Action for Rural Development Alternatives (PARDA), Integrated Social Development Centre and Integrated Development and Health Centre, started the health project in six communities in three districts of the Region in 2010, to complement the work of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), to reduce maternal mortality.

The communities are Sapeliga and Tanga in the Bawku- West District; Sumbrungu and Zuruangu in the Bolgatanga Municipality; and Naaga and Gia in the Kassena- Nankana District.

The areas were selected by the Regional Health Directorate of the GHS because of high maternal mortality rate.

Speaking at a ceremony in Bolgatanga to introduce phase II of the project and to present the donation, Mrs Rosemary Anderson Akolaa, Health Advocacy Manager of Oxfam lauded the effort of the TBAs, the Community Health Committees and other stakeholders for their effort at reducing mortality rate in the Region by seven per cent in 2010.

“ The first phase of the project which ended in March 2012 also resulted in an increase in anti-natal and health centre deliveries, zero record of maternal deaths in the project communities for year 2011.”

Mrs Akolaa noted that TBAs were the first point of contact in remote rural areas in times of child delivery, and it was necessary for the NGO to build the capacity of the beneficiaries to enable them to complement the work of midwives at the health centres.

Mr Aaron Kampim, Health and Livelihoods Project Officer of PARDA, said the phase two of the project would include radio education and drama performances on maternal health issues in the communities.

Mrs Joyce Bagina, the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of GHS, commended Oxfam for its contribution to the development of health in the region.**