SavSign Donates Computers, Their Accessories To Northern Regional Directorate Of GHS

Savana Signatures, an information and communication technology (ICT) for development organization, has presented ICT equipment to the Northern Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

The items which comprised of laptop computers, projectors, projector screens and Smartphones worth thousands of Ghana cedis, were donated to aid the GHS to effectively and efficiently continue with the fight against maternal and infant mortalities.

The Executive Director of SavSign John Stephen Agbenyo, who made the donation on behalf of the organisation, said the organisation’s focus was on the use of ICTs to facilitate development.

According to Mr. Agbenyo, SavSign used ICT to promote maternal health, education, youth empowerment, gender and social inclusion in line with its vision of a society where relevant information, knowledge and skills for development were enhanced through equal access to and use of ICTs.

He said SavSign in 2012 received funding support from STAR–Ghana to implement Technology for Maternal Health (TMH) project in six health facilities namely, the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Tamale West Hospital, Tamale Central Hospital, Kings Village Medical Centre, Yendi Municipal Hospital and the Savelugu Municipal Hospital.

The intervention, he said, helped to increase ante-natal care (ANC) attendance rate, reduced maternal/infant deaths, improved delivery at hospitals, and enhanced maternal health information delivery to expectant mothers in these hospitals and the districts in which they are located.

Mr. Agbenyo said, based on the significant successes chalked through the project, SavSign with funding support from Cordaid, Connect4Change and the International Institute for Communication and Development, had to expand the project to cover five (5) more new health facilities in the Northern Region.

Dr. Yakubu Mahama (L) receiving items from Mr. John S. Agbenyo

These new facilities include the Gusheigu District Hospital, Salaga District Hospital, Daboya Poly Clinic, Bimbilla District Hospital and the Buipe Health Centre. The support was suppose to aid them in the fight against maternal and infant mortalities, Mr. Agbenyo stressed, urging management to make good use of the equipment in order to achieve the desired result.

The Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service Dr. Mahama Yakubu commended SavSign for initiating the TMH project, saying “the intervention has contributed immensely to improve maternal health in the region”.

According to Dr. Mahama, the Northern Region recorded 112 maternal deaths in 2012, 99 deaths in 2013 and 66 deaths in 2014. “This drastic reduction in maternal deaths is as a result of various interventions including SavSign’s project”, he pointed out.

He however blamed maternal deaths on relatives of pregnant women who delay in reporting to health facilities on time, and attempts by women to also deliver their babies at home. He also appealed to Savana Signatures to intensify its campaign on family planning in the region.

While he lauded the Technology for Maternal Health project and stressed on the need for more of such interventions to improve upon maternal and infant health in the region, Dr. Mahama Yakubu pledged his office’s commitment to ensuring effective and efficient use of the ICT equipment to further reduce maternal and infant deaths.