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

Kudos.......' Akua Kuenyehia Foundation'

I am always inspired by benevolent citizens with emphasis on women, who impact their community in any way possible. Whether it is advocating for peace or supporting the underprivileged. Such an example is the Akua Kuenyehia Foundation - a Ghana based not-for-profit organisation which focuses on the development and empowerment of women through education. It was actually set up in honour of H.E Judge Akua Kuenyehia, first vice-president of the International Criminal Court in the Hague by her children.

This post is to congratulate the AKF for the good work they are doing........ A total of sixteen girls recently gained from their scholarship scheme to further their Senior High School education. These were underprivileged girls who had no hope for the future but through the support of the foundation, their dreams became a reality. It has supported a total of 23 girls so far since its inception.

Once again I say well done and God bless you immensely for this achievement!
Read the story here

Women Empowerment....A key to success

Women are an integral part in our world today.......so is the mother to her child.

I read this article today and could not wait to share it with everyone.....

Read the article here

"Women are those who personify society and as such they are the best mangers of the family and the community" ....Mr Ambrose Dery, MP for Lawra in Northern Ghana

Write a Post for Clean Water [Blog Action Day 2010]

On October 15, thousands of bloggers across more than 100 countries will participate in Blog Action Day to debate, brainstorm and raise awareness around clean water. Bloggers will take a single day and use it to write about the event’s chosen cause.

Blog Action Day is an annual event that brings bloggers together to post about a worthy cause. In its fourth year, Blog Action Day has covered environmental issues, poverty and climate change. This year, water was chosen by user vote on Change.org’s blog. It is the first year that Change.org is taking on the event from Blog Action Day Co-creators Collis and Cyan Ta’eed.

Clean water is an important but often-overlooked cause. Change.org estimates almost 1 billion people across the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s nearly one in eight people who are subject to preventable disease and death due to poor drinking water and unhygienic water for everyday needs. Approximately 4,500 children die each day from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation facilities.
Blog Action Day is very much about grassroots activism, taking the philosophy that a lot of ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference. Change.org hopes that the volume of blog posts on October 15 will create a meme around water issues, raising awareness and creating a digital, global think tank.



Lets get involved! 15th October 2010

Breast Cancer Awareness, Ghana 2010

Breast Cancer Awareness month

This month, we raise the flag on Breast Cancer Awareness around the world. Lets all join in and spread the word.


Women are our concern and this is the time for us to be breast aware for early detection. Mothers, tell a friend and lets help save lives.
Find out more about what is happening around you here and there.

DFID on CHILD Health

The only way we will end poverty is to put women and mothers at the front and centre of all our efforts Andrew Mitchell UK Development Secretary

......The health of newborns is inextricably linked to the health of their mothers. Interventions to improve maternal health and survival also improve newborn health and survival. These include; antenatal care, skilled attendance at birth, access to emergency obstetric care when necessary, adequate nutrition, post-partum care, newborn care, education to improve health, breastfeeding and improved sanitation, hygiene and water.

Read more here

Blog Action Day 2009-Climate Change and the family

Now is the time to take action on Climate Change: the most talked about and most blogged topic for the day! What will be the future for the mother and her family if Climate Change is not properly tackled? All over the world, families and livelihoods will be affected in the future with increase in green house gas emissions which causes a drastic change in the climate. This is a global threat and will adversely affect families, individuals, communities and countries at large.

Today being Blog Action Day, the blogosphere is shedding more light on how best we can support a good course of bridging the global warming gap and its effects on the climate by spreading the word and being heard.

How does Climate Change affect the livelihood of the family? It is often said that women are more vulnerable to the impact on societies of which climate change is a contributing factor. How true is that? Climate Change results in poverty, drought, poor health among others.

By ensuring a safer and secure world, we not only eradicate poverty, poor health or drought which results in food shortage and eventually death in living organisms including humans.

Women are the most affected in the society when it comes to Climate Change since they are the primary carers of their wards. Children also suffer the most in terms of changes in the environment with all kinds of ailment associated with increase in atmospheric temperatures resulting from global warming. It is often said that when a child is sick, the mother gets sick too (literally). Concerns about her children therefore allows her to use the most effective methods of reducing green house gas emissions if she has the means to do so like using the most effective methods in cooking, lighting and commuting only to mention a few.

To act positively on Climate Change, we ought to step out this day to reduce our energy consumption and the amount of carbon dioxide our diverse lifestyles contribute to the atmosphere which comprises our environment. Let us turn off the lights when we leave our rooms, turn off the taps, use more energy efficient bulbs, drive less and find alternative ways of commuting and more importantly create the awareness. We can ALL take serious actions TODAY to  avoid the catastrophic consequences of global warming because Climate Change does not only affect the poor in the society but the affluent as well.

Together we stand, divided we fall!! Let us all join hands to leave a safe and a greener future for the next generation.

Children are OUR FUTURE.

Blog Action Day is only 12 hrs away

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.

Here in Ghana BAD '09 starts in 12 hours. Lets keep blogging!!

Add your voice by Registering your blog here.

The 'Other' Family...'Household'

This is what I call the family 'other' family. It is very clear that there is a vast distinction between my earlier post of The Family to this one which is more rural than urban!
Families may take any form, shape, size and even colour depending on one's geographical location. In Africa, the family is what we term as 'Household'-where families reside or co-exist in an apartment or a single room unit. Such occupants may be a nuclear family or an extended family for that matter who share basically a common space. Lets look at a typical rural household where the livelihoods of the family is basically farming. Families whose means of subsistence is farming, lack a lot of  infrastructure and other basic amenities that is readily available to the urban family unit but their values of survival does not diminish with deprivation or a mere lack of these.

Survival is the name of the game amongst many rural households in many developing African countries. The family lives on the produce of the land (which is sustainability at its prime!) :) and ensures there is constant reproduction on their lands by practicing sustainable farming. Little do these rural folks know about the word "sustainability" but they are not only cutting cost but also protecting the environment and ensuring their survival which is their main aim. In instances where they are able to produce more than what their family need, they sell the rest for some money to cater for other basic necessities as water and in rare cases put their children in local schools.

What comes to mind at this time of blogging is the support of the family in such deprived rural areas. For us Africans, the family value is held in utmost high veneration. Barbara Bush once said and i quote "To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there" unquote. I love this quote personally as it does not speak only with regards to the family but to the entire human race. We ought to care and love one another as the scripture says in 1 John 4:7-8 ---
"Dear friends, let us love one one another, for love comes form God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love". (NIV)

The Family

The Obamas are the first First Family of African American descent in the United States. They are adorable and so real. They have been on the tabloids since their victory to the white house and continue to make the headlines.


Who really make up the FAMILY unit? Most often than not we depict a family as the image of a mother, father and children. This is defined as the Nuclear family in most of our societies. The Extended family on the other hand normally goes beyond just the parents and the children but comprises cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and even sometimes foster relations.

Lets take a glimpse at the new family in town!


Congrats to Kimora and Hounsou for their new inclusion to the family. Baby Kenzo is a cutie and so are Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.

Baby Kenzo


Baby and Mommy



Baby and Daddy

Mother and Child

"Children are a gift from the Lord" Psalm 127:3

and so are mothers who brought them into the world.
Right from birth, the baby and mother cohere. This is a natural thing (no offense to papas) for children to be attracted to the mother at that early stage in their lives.

I was told that it is always good to keep the new baby close to the mother’s chest after delivery for the baby to feel her heartbeat. Anyone has an idea why this is so?

Knowing that the child is God's precious gift to us, how do we treat such precious and priceless gift? Do we love them with all our hearts or neglect them? It's pitiful seeing young girls and boys of school-going age hawking on the streets. Being me, I pause and ask myself: "where are their mothers and why are they not in the classroom at that time of the day"? These children are most often than not, left to their own devices. What can we do about this people? ........ The answer lies within. Share your thoughts on this pressing issue.

Proverbs 29:15 says; "the rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame" (KJV)