TAMALE TEACHING HOSPITAL BENEFITS FROM A LIFELINE TO PRE-TERM BABIES.

Reported by Elizabeth Dede Quayson

Front view of Neonatal Care Unit

An ultra-modern Neonatal Care Unit (NICU) has been provided at the Tamale Teaching Hospital to help reduce child mortality.

MTN Ghana in partnership with Huawei Technologies provided this Neonatal Unit to help improve the health conditions of the people in the region.

The Neonatal Centre which include two Incubator Rooms, a Milk Room, a Crib Room, a Kangaroo Mother Care Room, a Tutorial/Conference room, Nurses and Doctor’s Stations and rest rooms, was constructed at a cost of GH₵ 335,00 and is expected to impact over thousand  two hundred neonates annually.

Huawei Technologies supported the center with medical equipment worth Gh₡69,650.

Dignitaries of MTN Ghana and Huawei Technologies

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Tamale Teaching Hospital will serve as the main referral center for the northern sector of Ghana. Prior to MTN’s intervention, the NICU was operating as a one cubicle unit at the maternity block of the hospital. Due to the constant congestion at the center there was the need for a separate and a well-equipped block to handle neonatal cases referred to the hospital.

The Executive Director of the MTN Ghana Foundation, Cynthia Lumor, reiterated the position of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on health, which states that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including access to all medical services, sanitation, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment, at the well-attended and colourful event to officially hand over the facility to the authorities of the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

She said, “the critical role a Neonatal Center plays in reducing child mortality cannot be over emphasized. The provision of this essential centre will therefore relieve the anxiety of parents and health professionals who have to care for pre-term babies”.

Cynthia Lumor also stated that the centre would not only help reduce infant mortality, but also serve as a center for the training of medical students from the University for Development Studies.

The Director of Public and Government Affairs for Huawei Technologies, Chenhui Li, pledged Huawei’s continuous partnership with the MTN Ghana Foundation to undertake subsequent Corporate Social Investment (CSI) projects to improve the social economic development of the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr. Prosper Akanbong, stated in his address that the reason for Ghana’s inability to achieve the target for MDG 4 is the slow progress being made in reducing neonatal mortality. He said, “almost fifty percent (50%) of infant mortality cases occur in the first twenty eight days of life”.

“With this improved facility, Tamale Teaching Hospital will be in a better position to play its role in providing tertiary specialist care for the critically ill neonate, provide training in newborn care for peripheral facilities, monitor and supervise newborn care activities in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and other partners”,  he added.

The Northern Regional Minister, Honorable Alhaji Mohammed Muniru, commended both MTN Ghana Foundation and Huawei Technologies for giving back part of their profits to support their communities. He indicated that government alone cannot shoulder the burden for the provision of health facilities and encouraged the combined efforts of government and Corporate Ghana to intensify community development in the health sector.

Other dignitaries who were present to grace the occasion include the country representative for UNICEF, regional Director of the National Communications Authority for Northern Ghana, and members of the Board of Directors of the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Other heath projects undertaken by the MTN Ghana Foundation include the refurbishment of the labour ward of the second Floor maternity unit of the Korle Bu Teaching hospital, support towards the provision of an emergency unit of the Princess Marie Children’s Hospital and the provision of portable water to twenty communities in the Upper West region. Also the Effia Nkwanta Government Hospital, Twifo Praso Hospital, Ejisu Hospital and the Fomena Health Center are other health facilities which have benefited from the Foundation. In all the Foundation has invested in thirty Health projects which are impacting the lives of thousands of people in Ghana.