Ghana

Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Promotion in Kwahu East

Country	Ghana
Project Strengths	Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Promoter
Implementing Partners	Kwahu East District Health Administration, Kwahu East District Assembly, Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana(PPAG)
Supporting Agencies	Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA Partnership Program)
Project Period	3 years ( Jan 2017 – Jan 2020 )

Description of SRHR Needs

Among the many challenges faced by community people in Ghana, limited access to basic health services has become a barrier in improving maternal, newborn and child health from the viewpoint of continuum of care. In the target area of this project, specifically Kwahu East District, Eastern Region, access to health care facilities is limited as the following figures:

percentage of women who receive antenatal care (ANC) 4 times until delivery is 65.6% in 2016 (national target 85%)

percentage of skilled birth attendance is 36.2% in 2016 (national average 73%, DHS 2014)

In this context, risks regarding a pregnant women’s health is high, due to circumstances such as lack of response to pregnancy related complications, or limited number of trained health personnel, resulting in low figure of skilled birth attendance. The need for better access to quality maternal, newborn and child health services is high, and measures to improve the community health care situation, such as providing educational support to increase understanding of community people on the importance of utilizing maternal health services, increasing access to health services by more outreach services, and strengthening a partnership between health facilities and communities, are crucial.

JOICFP’s Intervention

Project purpose	To improve access to Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) services for women, newborn and children in the project area
Target Area and Population	Pregnant and nursing women and children under 2 years of age in Kwahu East District, Eastern Region (Total population of the District: 85,575 (2016))
Uniqueness in the Approach	Introduction of Maternal Child Health promoter system that originated in Japan
Activities	Activities for promoting MNCH are implemented Training of health administration personnel on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) promoter system in Japan Training of Trainers for promoting MNCH Selection of the personnel who are in charge of promoting MNCH (hereinafter referred to as “MNCH promoters”) from existing volunteer members such as Community Health Volunteer (CHV) Development of MNCH promoters kits Training of MNCH promoters in their roles, effective communication and MNCH Training of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in MNCH and effective collaboration with MNCH promoters and healthcare providers Referrals by MNCH promoters Health education through group/individual discussions by MNCH promoters for male involvement Client friendly service is provided at health facility Training of health personnel in client-friendly service (customer care), 5S (workplace organization method), and effective collaboration with MNCH promoters Client satisfaction exit interviews (1st and 3rd year) MNCH activities at the community level are enhanced Regular meeting of MNCH promoters and Community Health Officers (CHO) for review and planning of activities at the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) level Outreach MNCH services Meetings among health personnel, community leaders, MNCH Promoting personnel and other key stakeholders on community support for MNCH incl. emergency community transport system

Project Outcomes

In order to improve access to MNCH services in the project area, outputs, indicators and activities are set as follows;

Activities for promoting MNCH are implemented
Client friendly service is provided at health facility
MNCH activities at the community level are enhanced