Obuasi East Health Directorate outlines measures to reduce stillbirth

The Obuasi East District Health Director, Delphine Gborgblovor has stated that stillbirth still remains an issue the directorate is battling with.

Speaking at the 2022 Annual Performance review meeting held at Wawase in the Obuasi East District, Madam Gborgblovor said, although there was a slight improvement in figures relating to stillbirth in 2022, she insisted that her outfit has identified steps to reduce the incidence of stillbirth in the district.

A baby who dies after 28 weeks of pregnancy, but before or during birth, is classified as a stillbirth.

There are nearly 2 million stillbirths every year – one every 16 seconds. Over 40% of all stillbirths occur during labour – a loss that could be avoided with improved quality and respectful care during childbirth including routine monitoring and timely access to emergency obstetric care when required.

The District Health Director said, “to address this issue, we have intensified home visits, with community health workers receiving training to educate households on the causes and prevention of stillbirth”.

She added that the Member of Parliament for the area, Dr. Patrick Boakye Yiadom has also distributed home visit bags and educational materials to nurses, enabling them to visit houses to provide care and education to pregnant and unwell individuals, as well as to alert them to high-risk behaviours that can cause stillbirth.

Madam Gborgblovor also advised pregnant women to avoid unprescribed drugs, particularly herbal medicines, which some individuals believe to be beneficial, without proper research.

She urged the media to help educate pregnant women to avoid unprescribed medicines.

On HIV prevalence rate in the District, the Health Director revealed that there has been a surge in HIV/AIDS infection rate across the country due to poor awareness creation on the causes and prevention of the disease.

She encouraged the people of Obuasi East to get tested to know their status, and for those who test positive should continue to take their medications.

Miss Gborgblovor again emphasized the importance of protecting oneself, as HIV/VIRUS is still prevalent.

She further assured that the District Health Directorate will continue to support health facilities with logistics, training, staffing, and other relevant support to improve healthcare delivery.

The District Health Directorate listed the following as key achievements for the year 2022;

• Ipt3 coverage has increased from 87.4% to 91.4%
• The District suspected more priority Diseases with one confirmed case of Monkeypox
• Family Planning Acceptor rate improved from 24.8% to 27.5%
• Reduction of Institutional Maternal Mortality ratio from 136/100000 LB to 58/100000 LB
• NHIS accreditation all 3 facilities

Awards

As part of the annual performance review programme, the Health Directorate presented awards to selected institutions and personnel, to recognize and encourage them for their outstanding performance in providing healthcare services. The following institutions and individuals received awards:

1. Best Health Facility – AGA Health Foundation and SDA Hospital (1st Runner Up). They received a citation, a fridge, and a fetal doppler.
2. Best CHPS Zone – Tutuka North Zone. They received a citation and a microwave.
3. Outstanding DHS Staff – Lambon Emmanuel Kwasi (1st Position).He received a citation, certificate, and a blender. Ansong Francis (1st Runner Up) received a citation, certificate, and a blender.
4. Best CHN – Nugbe Emefa Perpetual received a citation, certificate, and a blender.
5. Best General Staff – Diana Osei (1st position) received a citation, certificate, and a rice cooker. Lian Bomansaan (1st Runner Up) received a citation and a certificate. Dora Sungdumba (2nd Runner Up) received a citation and a certificate.
6. Best Leadership – Felicia Owusu (1st position) received a citation, certificate and a 32-inch TV. Yvonne Anthony (1st Runner Up) received a citation and a certificate. Florence Ankomah (2nd Runner Up) received a citation and a certificate.