By Solomon Gumah
Savelugu (N/R), July 16, GNA – The Government of Canada has donated medical equipment and supplies to the Savelugu Municipal Hospital in the Northern Region to improve quality healthcare for women, newborns and adolescents.
The equipment included adult weighing scales, delivery beds, autoclave machine, baby cots, blood pressure machine, delivery Instrument Set/Kits, manual vacuum aspiration kit, blood pressure cuffs (Set of 5 Sizes), maternity/admission beds, mobile oxygen machine/cylinder, neonatal ambu bag, nebulisers for maternity ward and palpation beds.
The rest were pulse oximeter speculums, suturing kits, vacuum (suction) machine, drip stands, newborn weighing scale, pressure pump, ward screens, overbed tables, essential medicines and scrubs.
The support, provided through the Power to Choose project, being implemented by Oxfam in Ghana and its partners including the Norsaac with funding from Global Affairs Canada, is expected to enhance maternal, newborn, sexual and reproductive healthcare services and contribute to Ghana’s quest for universal health coverage.
Madam Françoise Nduwimana, the Head of Cooperation, High Commission of Canada in Ghana, during a brief ceremony to handover the equipment to the authorities of the hospital at Savelugu, said the intervention underscored Canada’s commitment to improving the health, dignity and well-being of women and girls through strategic partnerships.
She said the equipment would enable healthcare workers to provide better services to women, girls and young people adding investing in women’s health remained one of the most effective ways of reducing poverty, strengthening families and promoting sustainable development.
She said: “When a young woman can access quality reproductive health services, she is better able to stay in school, pursue economic opportunities and make informed decisions about her future. When a mother receives safe and reliable maternal care, families are stronger and communities thrive.”
Madam Nduwimana said Canada would continue collaborating with the Ghana Health Service, Oxfam in Ghana, local authorities and civil society organisations to strengthen health systems, expand access to quality reproductive healthcare and empower women and girls.
Madam Charity Azantilow, the Savelugu Municipal Director of Health, described the donation as timely and said the hospital had long faced critical shortages of equipment, particularly in its labour and maternity wards.
She said the hospital received maternity referrals from health centres and Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds within the municipality as well as four neighbouring districts placing enormous pressure on its limited resources.
She said the equipment would significantly improve maternal and newborn health outcomes and assured the donors that the items would be properly maintained through a preventive maintenance schedule to ensure their longevity.
She appealed to Global Affairs Canada, Oxfam and other development partners to extend similar support to lower-level health facilities to strengthen primary healthcare delivery across the municipality as well as support the Municipal hospital with motorbikes for community health outreach and a standby ambulance to complement the National Ambulance Service, noting that the hospital served parts of the Karaga, Kumbungu and West Mamprusi Assemblies in addition to the entire Nanton District.
Mr Alhassan Fuseini, Savelugu Municipal Chief Executive commended Canada and Oxfam for the intervention noting that improved healthcare was critical to the municipality’s socio-economic development.
GNA
Edited by Eric K Amoh/Benjamin Mensah
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