Dr Afisa Zakariah (3rd left) and H. E Naoto Nikai (5th left) with the ‘Mama’s Determination’ material and participants at the meeting.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has introduced a new set of educational and entertainment materials aimed at preventing the transmission of HIV from a mother to her unborn child.
The set of tools titled, ‘Mama’s Determination’ consists of a DVD, photo drama book and interactive cards to support counselling service for the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) in the country.
Mama’s Determination, the first educational and entertainment materials for PMTCT in Ghana with application of episode-based drama technique is to increase the awareness on the need for pregnant women to know their HIV status to protect themselves and their babies.
The materials were developed jointly by the GHS, Ghana AIDS Commission with Funding from the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) under the ‘Project for Strengthening Operational Capacity of PMTCT.’
Naoto Nikai, Japanese Ambassador to Ghana, delivering his special guest remarks at a disseminating meeting in Accra, said the health sector is one of the priority areas for the government of Japan in its corporation with Ghana.
‘One of our focused areas in the health sector today is maternal and child health, where we continually aim to improve healthcare delivery to pregnant women, nursing mothers, and their children,’ he said.
H. E. Nikai said the materials are targeted at pregnant women and nursing mothers visiting hospitals and clinics for ante-natal care (ANC), post-natal care (PNC) and anti-retroviral therapy (ART).
‘The concept of video drama, photo drama book and the interactive card is interesting and I believe that it shall be appreciated by all in the target group,’ he noted.
The Director General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Angela El- Adas, said the three materials have come at a time when the country is looking forward to achieve 100 percent coverage of the PMTCT programme.
‘It is expected that this knowledge accrued as a result of the three products developed will boost the confidence of women to know their HIV status and build the capacity of health care givers in the administration of PMTCT services,’ she said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
This article has 0 comment, leave your comment.