Neonatal care program combats child mortality in Ghana
The Jerusalem Post - 04/05/2011 14:22
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Maya Ehrmann writes for No Camels.
Eight years ago Dr. Yossi Baratz, Health Advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was sent on a mission to Ghana, Africa to assess the need for Israeli medical aid in the region.
Baratz came back profoundly shocked by the poor state of Ghanaian hospitals and the sky-high infant mortality rate in the country. In the city of Kumasi, the second largest town in Ghana, one in four babies died during or shortly after birth, partly due to the occupancy rate in hospitals, which was at 300 percent.
In 2007, Baratz, Along with MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development and in cooperation with the Millennium Cities Initiative, launched a neonatal project in the Kumasi region of Ghana. Since then, over 10,000 mothers and babies have gone through neonatal care in Israeli built clinics.
“The primary problems were lack of facilities and medical knowledge,” said Baratz. In addition, explained Ghana’s ambassador to Israel, Henry-Hanson Hall, “many women in Ghana work hard and are not given rest period after giving birth, which heightens these women’s risk of getting sick and in turn their babies.”
According to Abenaa Akuamoa-Boateng, representative of Millemium Cities Inititiative in Ghana and West Africa, “the chances that a baby would come out alive [of intensive care] was something like 40 to 50 percent.”
MASHAV, along with specialists from various Israeli universities and hospitals, were called upon to introduce the Kangaroo System, which focuses on the mother as much as it does the newborn. Kangaroo emphasized regular skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, as well as exclusive breastfeeding and prolonged rest for the mother.
Two clinics were also built in the periphery of Kumasi, the first in Kumasi South, near the slums and the second in Suntreso. MASHAV flew Ghanaian physicians and nurses to Israel to study the country’s system of neonatal care.
Eight years ago Dr. Yossi Baratz, Health Advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was sent on a mission to Ghana, Africa to assess the need for Israeli medical aid in the region.
Baratz came back profoundly shocked by the poor state of Ghanaian hospitals and the sky-high infant mortality rate in the country. In the city of Kumasi, the second largest town in Ghana, one in four babies died during or shortly after birth, partly due to the occupancy rate in hospitals, which was at 300 percent.
In 2007, Baratz, Along with MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development and in cooperation with the Millennium Cities Initiative, launched a neonatal project in the Kumasi region of Ghana. Since then, over 10,000 mothers and babies have gone through neonatal care in Israeli built clinics.
“The primary problems were lack of facilities and medical knowledge,” said Baratz. In addition, explained Ghana’s ambassador to Israel, Henry-Hanson Hall, “many women in Ghana work hard and are not given rest period after giving birth, which heightens these women’s risk of getting sick and in turn their babies.”
According to Abenaa Akuamoa-Boateng, representative of Millemium Cities Inititiative in Ghana and West Africa, “the chances that a baby would come out alive [of intensive care] was something like 40 to 50 percent.”
MASHAV, along with specialists from various Israeli universities and hospitals, were called upon to introduce the Kangaroo System, which focuses on the mother as much as it does the newborn. Kangaroo emphasized regular skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby, as well as exclusive breastfeeding and prolonged rest for the mother.
Two clinics were also built in the periphery of Kumasi, the first in Kumasi South, near the slums and the second in Suntreso. MASHAV flew Ghanaian physicians and nurses to Israel to study the country’s system of neonatal care.
Today the new clinics operate autonomously for the most part and Suntreso treats 450 babies a month. Yet the communication line between Ghana and Israel remains open and Israeli medical personnel is sent over regularly to provide assistance.
“You can see a true joint effort between two countries,” Hanson-Hall told NoCamels. “The neonatal clinics are very popular among the local people. They have observed and confirmed that the neonatal activities actively reduce maternal mortality and assure the birth of healthy children.”
According to Mr. Hanson-Hall, MASHAV’s neonatal project is an example of a project that has a long-term multiplier effect on the community. “The project has created more awareness of the importance of neonatal care with an increased emphasis on mothers’ health as well as the benefits of long-term breast feeding, better diagnosis, proper care, and better nutrition, as well as enhanced medical capacity,” he explained. “The Ghanaian government has made it a policy to develop at least 30 more hospitals,” he added.
Baratz also sees this as “a pilot program that will hopefully promote the discipline elsewhere.”
Beyond its neo-natal projects, MASHAV has recently started working on a water treatment project for cleaner water supply to hospitals in the region.
No Camels - Local solutions to global problems
“You can see a true joint effort between two countries,” Hanson-Hall told NoCamels. “The neonatal clinics are very popular among the local people. They have observed and confirmed that the neonatal activities actively reduce maternal mortality and assure the birth of healthy children.”
According to Mr. Hanson-Hall, MASHAV’s neonatal project is an example of a project that has a long-term multiplier effect on the community. “The project has created more awareness of the importance of neonatal care with an increased emphasis on mothers’ health as well as the benefits of long-term breast feeding, better diagnosis, proper care, and better nutrition, as well as enhanced medical capacity,” he explained. “The Ghanaian government has made it a policy to develop at least 30 more hospitals,” he added.
Baratz also sees this as “a pilot program that will hopefully promote the discipline elsewhere.”
Beyond its neo-natal projects, MASHAV has recently started working on a water treatment project for cleaner water supply to hospitals in the region.
No Camels - Local solutions to global problems
Israel, Germany Reach Out to Africa
Shevat 25, 5771, 30 January 11 02:57
by Maayana Miskin(Israelnationalnews.com) Israel and Germany plan to team up to help developing nations. Representatives from both countries will meet Monday to sign a Declaration of Intent; the document will be signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel.
One shared project which Israel and Germany will initiate is the rehabilitation of Lake Victoria. The lake, the largest in Africa, is contaminated and is suffering the effects of pollution.
Ayalon said Sunday that reaching out to poorer countries is in Israel's interest, “Globally, we witness the instability of countries caused by socio-economic disparity. Aid projects with the objective of strengthening the socio-economic status of developing nations have become more important and urgent than ever."
"International aid is one of the most effective diplomatic tools," he continued, "and three-party aid strengthens Israel ’s relations with both the partner and with the recipient country, and allows for the distribution of Israeli technologies and strengthens the country’s socio-economic base.”
One shared project which Israel and Germany will initiate is the rehabilitation of Lake Victoria. The lake, the largest in Africa, is contaminated and is suffering the effects of pollution.
Ayalon said Sunday that reaching out to poorer countries is in Israel's interest, “Globally, we witness the instability of countries caused by socio-economic disparity. Aid projects with the objective of strengthening the socio-economic status of developing nations have become more important and urgent than ever."
"International aid is one of the most effective diplomatic tools," he continued, "and three-party aid strengthens Israel ’s relations with both the partner and with the recipient country, and allows for the distribution of Israeli technologies and strengthens the country’s socio-economic base.”
Israel has previously been involved in rescue efforts in Haiti, in AIDS prevention in Africa, in providing life-saving surgery to sick children from more than two dozen countries, and in training doctors from around the world to assist in their home countries. Much of Israel's humanitarian effort has been focused closer to home, where Israeli doctors treat tens of thousands of Palestinian Authority Arabs each year.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit Israel on Monday afternoon, and to meet immediately with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
In the evening, she and Netanyahu will hold a joint cabinet meeting, followed by a press conference.
The next day Merkel plans to have breakfast with Israeli business people, then to meet with MK Tzipi Livni (Kadima), head of the Opposition. Later in the day she will meet German volunteers in Jerusalem, and will meet with President Shimon Peres. In the afternoon, Tel Aviv University will present Merkel with an honorary doctorate.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit Israel on Monday afternoon, and to meet immediately with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
In the evening, she and Netanyahu will hold a joint cabinet meeting, followed by a press conference.
The next day Merkel plans to have breakfast with Israeli business people, then to meet with MK Tzipi Livni (Kadima), head of the Opposition. Later in the day she will meet German volunteers in Jerusalem, and will meet with President Shimon Peres. In the afternoon, Tel Aviv University will present Merkel with an honorary doctorate.
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