NGO Advocates For Women’s Access To Health Education

Hawawu Issah Seini

The Executive Director of Health Aid West Africa (HAWA) Hawawu Issah Seini has advocated for more access to healthcare education for women in Ghana especially those in the rural areas so as to protect them from preventable diseases.

Madam Hawawu said access to thorough basic healthcare education was one of the proven ways to build a healthy population. “Diseases like breast cancer, obstetric fistula, malaria and cholera which are claiming the lives of many women and their children while others are deformed are preventable and manageable”, she emphasised.

According to her, some of the women suffer from the diseases till they die or get deformed due to the lack of adequate knowledge about some of the diseases as well as superstitions surrounding those diseases in their locality.

In a signed press statement issued to the media including Savannahnews to mark the 2015 International Women’s Day celebration, Madam Hawawu observed that many women in the world, especially those in developing countries, were suffering from preventable diseases due to lack of or inadequate basic healthcare education.

She said that women needed to be healthy to take part in socio-economic and political activities and development processes of the nation. Thus, she called on all stakeholders to explore new technologies and innovative ways of making basic healthcare education more accessible to women, especially those in the rural areas in order to reduce preventable medical conditions which threaten the lives of women.

Health Aid West Africa (HAWA), a non-profit making organization, is currently running a radio programme on health dubbed “Radio Clinic” aired on Bishara Radio, a Tamale-based radio station every Thursday.

The focus of the programme is to educate the public on their health and other important issues that affect their lives. The programme, which seeks to provide basic healthcare information while cultivating health seeking habit among listeners, is supported by the Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF) and Bishara Radio.