Asanko Gold and GIZ have launched a campaign on maternal and child health including infection prevention at Manso Adubia in the Amansie South district.

The objective of the project is to increase the economic and health resilience within the catchment communities of private partners in the mining industry.

This is to ensure they are better prepared to withstand future pandemics.

The maternal and child health campaign is under the “COVID-19 Pandemic Management in times of COVID-19 and beyond”, a GIZ jointly implemented project with Asanko Gold. It is funded through the develoPPP programme on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

According to Technical Advisor of develoPPP Health GIZ, Ms. Mary Bonsu, the project started in September 2021 and hopes to support the catchment communities and its partners with enhanced access to healthcare, through mass NHIS registration, extensive health screening exercise for various diseases, and training of selected health personnel by 2024.

“We care for the community and we always want to know what their needs are and we try to meet them,” said Acting Head of Department for Safety, Health and Security at Asanko Gold, Emmanuel Atitiati.

The theme of the campaign is “Save a Mother, Save a Child, & Save Yourself”.  

The launch was also attended by representatives of  Amansie South and West District Health Directorates and selected nurses and midwives in the respective districts.

Acting District Director of Health Services for Amansie South district, Randy Osei Boakye was optimistic the programme would lead to better health outcomes.

“Once our staff are being trained on infection prevention, the number  of nosocomial infections in the district will decrease,” he said.

The launch will be followed by a 2 weeks educational campaign using local community information centres (CICs) and radio stations with interviews of the district health directors and other public health experts on maternal and child health in the era of COVID-19 and other diseases with pandemic potential.

In addition to the campaign, selected health personnel from the catchment District Health Directorates will receive training on infection prevention and control geared towards improving maternal and child health outcomes in the district.