Accra, May 16, GNA – MTN Ghana Foundation, has once again demonstrated its commitment to reduce infant mortality with the construction of an ultra-modern 40-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit(NICU) for the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) in the Northern Region.
Constructed at a cost of GH¢ 335,000, the facility has two incubator rooms, a milk room, crib room, Kangaroo mother care room, tutorial/conference room, nurses and doctor’s stations and rest rooms, and is expected to impact more than 1,200 neonates annually.
Technology partners Huawei supported the centre with medical equipment worth GH¢ 69,650.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the TTH is the main referral centre for the northern sector.
Prior to MTN’s intervention, the NICU was operating as a one cubicle unit at the maternity block of the hospital.
The constant congestion at the centre necessitated the need for a separate and a well-equipped block to handle neonatal cases referred to the hospital.
At the event to officially hand over the facility to the authorities of the Hospital, the Executive Director of the MTN Ghana Foundation, Mrs Cynthia Lumor, reiterated the position of the World Health Organisation on health, which states that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including access to all medical services, sanitation, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment.
She said: ‘The critical role a neonatal centre plays in reducing child mortality cannot be over emphasised. The provision of this essential centre will therefore relieve the anxiety of parents and health professionals who have to care for pre-term babies.’
Mrs Lumor said apart from the centre helping to reduce infant mortality, it would also serve as a centre for the training of medical students from the University for Development Studies.
The Director of Public and Government Affairs for Huawei Technologies, Mr Chenhui Li, pledged Huawei’s continuous partnership with the MTN Ghana Foundation to undertake subsequent Corporate Social Investment projects to improve the social economic development of the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of the TTH, Dr Prosper Akanbong, said the reason for Ghana’s inability to achieve the target for Millennium Development Goal 4 is the slow progress being made in reducing neonatal mortality.
‘Almost 50 per cent of infant mortality cases occur in the first 28 days of life. ‘With this improved facility, Tamale Teaching Hospital will be better positioned to play its role in providing tertiary specialist care for the critically ill neonate, provide training in newborn care for peripheral facilities, monitor and supervise newborn care activities in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and other partners,’ he said.
The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru, commended both MTN Ghana Foundation and Huawei Technologies for ploughing back part of their profits to support their communities.
He said government alone cannot shoulder the burden for the provision of health facilities and encouraged the combined efforts of government and Corporate Ghana to intensify community development in the health sector.
Other heath projects undertaken by the MTN Ghana Foundation include the refurbishment of the labour ward of the second floor maternity unit of the Korle Bu Teaching hospital, support towards the provision of an emergency unit of the Princess Marie Children’s Hospital and the provision of potable water to 20 communities in the Upper West Region.
Other health facilities which have benefited from the Foundation include the Effia-Nkwanta Government Hospital, Twifo Praso Hospital, Ejisu Hospital and the Fomena Health Centre.
In all the Foundation has invested in 30 Health projects, which are impacting thousands of people in Ghana.
GNA
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