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The Ghana Health Service (GHS) Central Regional Office has commissioned business drivers to continue to play a positive role in reducing the increasing rate of maternal and infant mortality in the region.
He said that maternal mortality was a big problem in the Region and that drivers who took pregnant women to health centers had a key role to play in ensuring that everything possible was done to stop preventable deaths.
GHS Acting Regional Director Dr. Kwabena Sarpong, who made the call, said maternal and infant mortality had been at the top of the regional leadership’s agenda since 2005.
He addressed a stakeholder meeting in Cape Coast, hosted by the GHS and funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
He indicated that, therefore, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed a few years ago between the Transport Unions and the Health Directorate of the Central Region, in which the drivers selflessly contributed their quota to save the lives of pregnant women and their babies.
The measure, which helped dramatically reduce preventable maternal deaths, made taxi drivers’ mobile phone numbers available to pregnant women, especially in hard-to-reach areas, to be picked up from the hospital immediately when they arrive or develop a disease. complication.
Therefore, he highlighted the need to strengthen the MoU of the Directorate with drivers to make it more relevant to save the lives of pregnant women.
Dr. Sarpong asked midwives to demonstrate professionalism in their commitments to drivers to encourage them to sacrifice themselves and send pregnant women to his facilities.
Speaking about the way forward, UNFPA Coordinator and Public Health Educator Ms. Bernice Ampimah called on the media to step up education and create broader awareness campaigns to foster understanding among stakeholders.
He said it was also necessary to bring back an award scheme for drivers to motivate them to zealously serve humanity and praised drivers for the roles.
For his part, Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira Secretary for the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Jonathan Rhule, said his role in reducing maternal mortality in the Region is fully humanitarian.
He encouraged his colleagues to help voluntarily because “they could be our wives, daughters and relatives” so let’s do this good cause for ourselves and for society in general.
