JICA boosts Ghana’s maternal care with US$150,000 medical equipment donation

GHANA– The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has donated essential medical equipment worth US$150,000 to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to bolster Ghana’s efforts in improving maternal, newborn, and child healthcare. 

According to the Ghana News Agency, the equipment will be distributed across three regional hospitals, nine district hospitals, and 40 health centers and CHPS compounds located in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, and Volta regions.  

This strategic distribution is expected to significantly improve healthcare delivery in these regions. 

The donated equipment comprises a variety of advanced medical devices, including Cardiotocography (CTG) monitors, autoclaves, phototherapy machines, digital blood pressure machines, delivery beds, mobile dopplers, thermometers for both adults and neonates, infant meters, and neonatal weight machines. 

Additionally, the donation includes resuscitation sets (bag and mask) for both adults and newborns, saturation monitors, emergency/storage trolleys, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines, oxygen concentrators, and infant radiant warmers. 

Speaking at the handover event, Mr. Oda Ryotaro, a Senior Representative of JICA Ghana, highlighted that this donation was made under the Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health project, which emphasizes the 5S-KAIZEN-TQM methodology. 

 This approach focuses on improving quality and efficiency within healthcare facilities. 

Mr. Ryotaro elaborated that the five-year collaborative project between JICA and GHS is currently operational in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, and Volta regions.  

The project aims to enhance the capacity of health facilities in these regions to deliver optimal quality maternal and newborn care. 

He expressed confidence that this donation would support and strengthen universal access to quality maternal and newborn care, complementing existing interventions implemented by the project. 

For her part, Dr. Marion Okoh-Owusu, Director of the Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service, expressed her gratitude, noting that the equipment would be used for its intended purpose. 

Dr. Okoh-Owusu mentioned that the GHS has ongoing interventions to reduce maternal and neonatal mortalities.

This will include training healthcare workers on Ghana’s Quality of Care standards, applying Quality Improvement tools to enhance the workplace environment, reinforcing the continuum of care using the Maternal and Child Health Record Book, and strengthening the referral system. 

Furthermore, Dr. Okoh-Owusu emphasized that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the quality of health services is critical to achieving effective Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and meeting the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

She noted that the success and value of UHC depend on its ability to provide quality services to all individuals, everywhere. 

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