CCFC presents drugs to UE Health Directorate

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga The Upper East Regional Health Directorate has received a quantity of assorted medicines to enable it offer healthcare services to the large number of especially people children and pregnant mothers. The medicines were provided by the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) and included one million tablets of Abendazole, (400mg), 480,000 tablets of Ferrous Sulphate, 750,000 tablets of Vitamins A, and two million tablets of multivitamins. According to UNICEF, every year, estimated 11 million children under the age of five in developing countries die from illness such as diarrhoeal, dehydration, Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), measles and malaria. “This is not any parent or government’s dream for children,” said Mrs Gifty Akosua Baka, Country Director of CCFC when she led a team to present the medicines to officials of the regional health directorate at a brief ceremony at Bolgatanga. “CCFC is very much concerned about child protection and believes that a healthy child is the basic per-requisite not only for healthy growth but also for the peace of mind to pursue interests in education and other endeavours.” she added Mrs Baka explained that the presentation of vitamins, dewormers and other health promotion medicines to the Ghana Health Service in the region for the first time expands her organisation’s outreach to many more children beyond the Northern Region where they have operated for the past 16 years. She noted that one of the major challenges in their organisation’s intervention to children and communities in the northern region was poor water and sanitation conditions, lack of access to safe drinking water for rural communities remain major cause of disease infection especially diarrhoea and other water borne diseases and worm infestation among children. This challenge, she said, coupled with malnutrition, increase conditions of anaemia in children and pregnant women which worsen or result in death where access to health care facility is difficult. She expressed the hope that the medicines will go a long way to help the children in the region grow healthy and live to achieve their dreams. Receiving the items on behalf of the Regional Health Directorate management, Mr Lucio Dery, Deputy Director in charge of Administration thanked the CCFC for the support and said they would ensure the judicious use the items, especially in the area of antenatal care for both babies and care of pregnant mothers. “Malnutrition is a major challenge in this region and we are happy to have this support from CCFC”, he added. -End- Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh