The health of Ghanaians has improved in the last three decades

Health news for Monday, August 31, 2020

Source: GNA

2020-08-31

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The health of Ghana’s population has improved over the past three decades, according to a Ghanaian National Health Policy. The life expectancy of 57 years in 1990 has increased to 64 years in 2017.

The National Health Policy, the revised edition of January 2020, was sent to the Ghana News Agency over the weekend. The Health Policy, which was developed under the leadership of Mr. Kwaku Agyeman Manu, Minister of Health, aims to ensure healthy lifestyles for all. people who live in the countryside.

It has five objectives, which are to strengthen the health care system to be resilient, promote the adoption of healthy lifestyles and improve the physical environment; the rest is to improve the economic situation of the population and guarantee sustainable financing for health.

The Health Policy noted that in 2017, three out of every 1,000 pregnant women who gave birth died compared to six of the same number in 1997, and noted that nine percent of all babies born in 1990 died before reaching their birthday. year and 12 percent died before the age of five, while in 2017 three percent of all babies born died before one and five percent died before the age of five.

The Document noted that improvement had been slow and far from the desired global goals. He said the changes represented an average improvement of 50 percent compared to the desired improvement of 75 percent. He stated that Ghana had not achieved the desired level of health care because it had not adequately and comprehensively addressed all key determinants of health.

The Policy Document says that with an aging population, conditions such as musculoskeletal and neurodegenerative disorders are increasing in prevalence. She went on to say that the mental health burden was also increasing with an estimated 10% prevalence of common mental health illnesses such as depression and anxiety.

He noted that three percent of the total Ghanaian population had some form of disability, with visual or visual impairment being the most common.

The Document says that the complex disease burden is influenced by risk factors such as the physical environment, education, socioeconomic status, lifestyles of the population, and the demographic characteristics of the Ghanaian population. He went on to say that historically the main health problems affecting Ghana had been primarily communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional diseases.

She said that maternal and newborn health conditions remain a challenge, especially in rural areas and among poor women. The policy document said that non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, strokes, cancer, diabetes, eye disorders, and oral health conditions were also increasing in prevalence. GNA