Strengthen implementation of health strategies to improve women’s health — MP

A Member of Parliament (MP), Mr William Sabi, has said the country needs to strengthen the implementation of its health strategies to impact meaningfully on the health of women and girls. 

He said the country had in place commendable health policies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Community Health Planning System (CHPS) initiatives but noted that the effective implementation of those programmes had become difficult.

Challenges

Mr Sabi mentioned for instance that ambulance services, which were critical for referrals, were costly and therefore could not be accessed by most pregnant women in times of emergencies.

As such, though the government may have implemented its policy to provide that service, the benefit may be out of the reach of the large low-income earning population.

He was speaking at the West Africa Caucus Meeting at the Women Deliver conference at Copenhagen, Denmark, on the theme: ‘Advancing the health and productivity of women and girls across West Africa.’

Mr William Sabi also referred to the lack of essential equipment and facilities at referral health centres, making the implementation of the fine policies on the provision of tertiary healthcare services unattainable.

Contributing to the discussion, the First Secretary, Health/Gender Focal Point at the Denmark Embassy, Lena Hothes, said Ghana had good data which could be relied on to evaluate health programmes, particularly women and girls’ reproductive health and rights.