By Rachel Kakraba
In a bid to effectively improve HIV services in Ghana, especially to newborns, UNICEF Ghana in partnership with the Ghana Health Service, has rolled out the Point of Care Test project.
It is technology which has significantly reduced the turnaround time on HIV test results of newborns and babies. The initiative, aside from reducing anxiety among mothers, has also seen the timely treatment of infected babies, and consequently enhancing their chances of survival.
”It’s innovative because it allows babies who are infected to be treated as soon as possible. The sooner you get you are treated, the highest are your chances of surviving”
UNICEF Ghana Chief of Health & Nutrition Emmanuel Dewiz, disclosed this during a media Café session held for some selected journalists in mainstream media, in Accra.
Mr. Dewiz, said the Point of Care Test project, focusses on newborns because it is an area which has been neglected for years. He said the service which can be accessed in health facilities nationwide, is to ensure no child is left behind.
He said that under its Safety Net Programme, adolescent girls who hitherto became school dropouts as a result of teenage pregnancy have the opportunity to return to school after child birth. This he said has helped the girls get back their lives and prevented them from being marginalized.
He said to expand the programme, UNICEF requires more funding to cover more areas because benefits of the project are enormous.
“This is something that we are doing in some districts of the country and we would like to do more. So if we secure more funding, we will do more because, that has a lot of impact on mothers, on children and on future adults”
He hinted Ghana will next year commence HPV vaccination. To this end it will be embarking on a sensitization drive, for awareness creation.
UNICEF Communication Specialist, Evelyn Baddoo, encouraged the journalists to support UNICEF in the advocacy to change the narrative of children, who are the most vulnerable in society.
She said through compelling storytelling, journalists must create a platform to sensitize the public on issues of children. She was hopeful through strategic advocacy UNICEF could raise the needed resources to reach more people.
UNICEF Ghana Country Representative, Osama Makkawi Khogali, in a brief remark called for an all hands on deck approach to change the narrative about stories in particular Ghana and Africa.
