Children dying before their 5th birthday

Causes of deaths among children under 5 years by percentage (2008)

Quick Facts

• The number of children in developing countries who died before they reached the age of five dropped from 100 to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2008.
• Almost nine million children still die each year before they reach their fifth birthday.
• The highest rates of child mortality continue to be found in sub-Saharan Africa, where, in 2008, one in seven children died before their fifth birthday.
• Of the 67 countries defined as having high child mortality rates, only 10 are currently on track to meet the MDG target.

Essential Care. Photo: Oliver Belarga

Fewer child deaths

Child deaths are falling, but not quickly enough. Between 1990 and 2008, the death rate for children under five has decreased by 28 per cent, from 100 to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births. That means that, worldwide, 10,000 fewer under-fives die each day.
Many countries have shown considerable progress in tackling child mortality. Almost one third of the 49 least developed countries have managed to reduce their under five mortality rates by 40 per cent or more over the past twenty years. However, the current rate of progress is well short of the MDG target of a two-thirds reduction by 2015......

...Continue reading HERE!

 

The Disease - MALARIA!

My blog post this day will shed more light on the deadly disease that is predominant in Ghana. Do people really know about the disease?

The post below is from the Wikipedia page..../wiki/malaria. What does it say about Malaria?

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Americas. The disease results from the multiplication of malaria parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases progressing to coma, and death.

Four species of Plasmodium can infect and be transmitted by humans. Severe disease is largely caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae is generally a milder disease that is rarely fatal. A fifth species, Plasmodium knowlesi, is a zoonosis that causes malaria in macaques but can also infect humans.
 Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by distribution of inexpensive mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides inside houses and draining standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs. Although many are under development, the challenge of producing a widely available vaccine that provides a high level of protection for a sustained period is still to be met. Two drugs are also available to prevent malaria in travellers to malaria-endemic countries (prophylaxis).


A variety of antimalarial medications are available. In the last 5 years, treatment of P. falciparum infections in endemic countries has been transformed by the use of combinations of drugs containing an artemisinin derivative. Severe malaria is treated with intravenous or intramuscular quinine or, increasingly, the artemisinin derivative artesunate which is superior to quinine in both children and adults. Resistance has developed to several antimalarial drugs, most notably chloroquine.


Each year, there are more than 225 million cases of malaria, killing around 781,000 people each year according to the latest WHO Report, 2.23% of deaths worldwide. The majority of deaths are of young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Ninety percent of malaria-related deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, and can indeed be a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development.


As citizens of the world, let's all rise up to STOP MALARIA! Let your voice be heard!!

Every two minutes a woman dies of cervical cancer- Dr Hiadzi

Accra, March 29, GNA - Dr Edem Hiadzi, Medical Director of Lister Hospital on Tuesday said statistics available indicated that every two minutes a woman dies of Cervical Cancer worldwide. He noted that the disease was the second most common cancer affecting women worldwide and accounting for about 10 per cent of all cancer cases.

Dr Hiadzi announced this at a sensitisation programme on the "effects of Cervical and Prostate Cancer on Reproductive Health of Individuals" for students of the Central University College, at Prampram in the Greater Accra Region.
He said the programme was part of the Corporate Social Responsibility of the hospital to educate the public on issues affecting their health.

"Cervical Cancer develops in the cervix, the low, narrow neck of the uterus that opens into the vagina," he said.
In addition, he said the disease was of vital importance because it prevents infections from reaching the uterus. He explained that cervix plays a major role in pregnancy and birth stages, adding that it lengthens during pregnancy serving as a barrier to protect the foetus and also expands during child birth to allow the baby to pass through.

On the causes of Cervical Cancer, Dr Hiadzi said, it was caused by a virus called Human Papillomavirus (HPV) which was transmitted during sexual intercourse and sometimes through intimate genital skin to skin contact.

"Every sexually active women risk catching the virus. In fact up to 80 per cent of women will be infected with some type of the virus at sometime in their lives," he added. He warned that the risk of infection starts from the first sexual encounter and would continue through life.

Dr Hiadzi indicated that every year, across Africa, 79,000 women were diagnosed with the disease with about 62,000 women dying. Most health care providers lack the needed skills to educate, provide screening services, identify and manage cases appropriately. He announced that vaccines against the HPV infection was now available in the country and therefore prevention was currently possible.
Dr Hiadzi urged women to vaccinate alongside screening to reduce the risk of the disease.

He advised sexually active female students to go for checkups to know their Cervical Cancer status while admonishing the inactive ones to abstained from sex. Touching on Prostate Cancer, the medical director said this was the leading cause of death in men especially in developing countries like Ghana.

Prostate Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in a man's prostate gland. The prostate is found just below the bladder. He said as the life expectancy in developing countries increased the incidence of prostate cancer also sours up. Dr Hiadzi noted that African and black Americans men were more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage of their lives. He said screening for the cancer was to detect the disease at the early stages, adding that 93age is a risk factor, the older you are the higher the risk of the ailment".

Minimising the chance of getting Prostate Cancer, Dr Hiadzi said people could eat more low fat and high fibre foods, stressing that vegetables like kontomire, broccoli, cauli-flower, carrots and cabbage with food supplements such as vitamins D and E may also help prevent the disease.

He advised men to talk to their doctors about the disease for early screening and prevention. Symptoms of Prostate Cancer include weak or interrupted flow of urine, frequent urination especially at night, Blood in the urine, difficulty urinating and erectile dysfunction.

View article source here!

Celebrating Women

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base......Dave Barry

As we celebrate women worldwide today, take a moment and say a prayer for all the women you know especially the one's we are not celebrating for their achievements but the ones who need support. Such women include the less privilige, the homeless, the needy, just to mention but a few.  

The Proverbs 31 Woman.............
¹⁰ A wife of noble character who can find?
   She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
   and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
   all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
   and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
   bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
   she provides food for her family
   and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
   out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
   her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
   and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
   and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
   and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
   for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
   she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
   where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
   and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
   she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
   and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
   and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
   her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
   but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Thumbs up for MTN Foundation.

Officials of MTN Ghana Foundation, on Sunday presented hampers to mothers who gave birth on Christmas Day (December 25), at the second floor of the Korle-Bu Maternity Block.

The officials, together with members of MTN Ghana Staff Volunteer Association and Management of the corporate entity, interacted with the mothers’ and shared goodwill messages and wishes of the season.

Mr Robert Kuzoe, Acting Executive Director of the Foundation described the season as a period for giving and building strong relationship with people.

“The Foundation could not have chosen a better time than Christmas to give and bring happiness to the mothers and babies on such a special day,” he said.

“We are happy to see that the lives of our mothers and babies as well as pregnant women who need antenatal and post natal care have been touched positively and are receiving quality care… as a result of the rehabilitation.”

Mr Kuzoe said the second floor of the hospital held a special place for the MTN Ghana Foundation, following a major rehabilitation exercise the foundation undertook on the floor shortly after the inauguration of the body in 2007.

The project was aimed at facilitating the provision of quality health care for mothers who use the facility.      The Foundation oversees the social responsibilities of MTN Ghana, a telecommunication service provider, with the aim of improving the quality of people’s lives through appropriate and sustainable social interventions in communities where the company operates.

The Foundation currently operates in Ghana, Afghanistan, Benin, Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda and Yemen.

In Ghana, the foundation is implementing eight projects valued at GH¢487,000.00 in the health and education sectors in deprived communities.

View source here.

Hypertension Now Leading Cause Of Maternal Death

Hypertension has overtaken haemorrhage as the leading cause of maternal mortality in Ghana’s cities.
This has been attributed to the changing behavioural and lifestyle characteristics of women, especially pregnant women, in the cities.

Deputy Director of Reproductive Child Health at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Aboagye, made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Kumasi. He therefore, called on pregnant women to watch their lifestyles.

Other major direct causes of maternal mortality are infection, unsafe abortion and obstructed labour.

Dr Aboagye was speaking after the opening of a stakeholder dissemination review meeting of a study to address postpartum haemorrhage in Kumasi.

The study was instituted by the GHS, in conjunction with the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) at Bonsaaso in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, with the view to finding new ways of preventing the death of women who deliver at home.

There are three types of high blood pressure in pregnant women. One is chronic hypertension, where high blood pressure develops before the 20th week of pregnancy or is present before the woman becomes pregnant.

The second is gestation hypertension, where some women just get high blood pressure near the end of pregnancy, while the third is pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), which condition can cause serious problems for both the mother and the baby if left untreated.

PIH develops after the 20th week of pregnancy. Along with high blood pressure, it causes protein in the urine, blood changes and other problems.

Earlier in a speech at the opening ceremony, Dr Aboagye called on all to play their respective roles so as to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 5 of reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015.

He said Ghana had stepped up the training of midwives, with at least 500 being trained every year.

The Team/Cluster Manager of the Bonsaaso MVP, Mr Samuel Afram, said the project had shown evidence that achieving MDG 5 was possible.

He said until recently when one pregnant woman died, the project area had not recorded any maternal death for about two years.

Mr Afram explained that the project had adopted various measures to protect pregnant women, adding that since health was related to nutrition, the project was working with other related agencies to achieve an integrated comprehensive approach to ensure the safety of pregnant women.

The Regional Advisor for the MVP in charge of West and Central Africa, Ms Mavis Ama Frimpong, said the project and the GHS were piloting the use of an oral medication that prevented bleeding after delivery.

That, she said, had become necessary because of the number of women who delivered in homes in the country.

About 50 per cent of pregnant women in the country deliver at home, with all the attendant risks.

View article source.

Giving Thanks

This is a message sent to me from a dear friend....bless you HM



Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known
among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing
praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.

Psalm 105:1,2 NIV

______________

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good:
for his mercy endureth for ever.

O give thanks unto the God of gods:
for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 136:1,2 KJV

______________

"Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there
will be none to deliver.

"He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright I shall show
the salvation of God."

Psalm 50:22,23 NASB

______________

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.
Meditation 11/7 - 11/13 Amazing Grace & Glory NASB
Amazing Grace and Glory!

"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;

I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

"Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

John 17:22-24 NASB