Third Term Project: Upper Manya Krobo District, Eastern Region, Republic of Ghana

Support project outline
Project location
Healthcare issues for mothers and children in Upper Manya Krobo District, (UMK District)
Description of activities
Activity report

Residential landscape in UMK District

Support project outline

Location	Upper Manya Krobo District, Eastern Region, Republic of Ghana
Target population	72,160 (direct beneficiaries: 30,668; indirect beneficiaries: 48,867) * Direct beneficiaries partially overlap with indirect beneficiaries.
Term	June 2023 to May 2026
Budget	24 million yen (first fiscal year)
Partner	Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP), a public interest incorporated foundation

Project location

Located in the West Africa, Ghana is a tropical country with hot and humid whether all year around.

The project site, the Eastern Region has the Lake Volta, and people sometimes need to travel 10 km or more to the opposite side of the lake, which may take two hours in some cases.

It is also an area where traditional values are firmly in place.

Healthcare issues for mothers and children in Upper Manya Krobo District, (UMK District)

Distance to health facilities

Approximately
10 to 20km

Community health facilities renting space in private houses to provide health services

66%

Deliveries at health facilities

45.2%

Treatment of diarrhea with oral rehydration solution (ORS)

48%^※

※Figures for Ghana as a whole

Long-distance to the health center

Inadequate equipment for the delivery room

Ghana’s maternal mortality rate is about 60 times higher than that of Japan^※1. In the UMK District, the distance to a health facility is about 10 to 20 km, depending on the area. Improving access is a key issue. There are 41 clinics (CHPS^※2), but more than half of them rent space in private houses to provide health services. Many pregnant women do not have health facilities nearby where they can deliver safely.

Water and sanitation are also major issues, with diarrheal diseases accounting for 25% of the deaths of children under the age of five in Ghana^※3. Treatment with oral rehydration solution is not yet widespread.

※1

unicef THE STATE OF THE WORLD ’S CHILDREN 2021
※2

CHPS (Community-Based Health Planning and Services): Clinics that provide basic health care services
※3

Binka E, Vermund SH, Armah GE (2011) Rotavirus as a cause of diarrhea among children under 5 years of age in urban Ghana: Prevalence and serotypes/genotypes. PaediatricInfectious Disease Journal 30: 718-730.

Health data (reference values)

Indicator	Ghana^※1	UMK District^※2
Antenatal care coverage (four or more times)	85%	79.9%
Birth attended by skilled health personnel/Deliveries at health facilities	78%	45.2%
Exclusive breastfeeding	43%	-
Full vaccination coverage	67.5%	85%
Cases of diarrhea among children under 1 year old (5 target sites)	-	1,451 cases
Treatment of diarrhea with oral rehydration solution (ORS)	48%	-

※1

UNFPA State of World Population 2020, UNICEF State of the World’s Children 2021
※2

UMK District Health Department Statistics 2022

Health facilities targeted by this project in UMK District (6 facilities)

Description of activities

	(1) Improvement of infrastructure	(2) Education and sensitization	(3) Enhancement of the community support system
Improvement of access to maternal and child health services	Construction of a maternity waiting house Construction of a maternity ward Construction of a new health facility (CHPS) Maintenance of equipment and fixtures	Capacity building of healthcare workers Training for healthcare workers on Mama Papa Class Conduct a community participatory painting workshop Conduct workshops on management for maternity waiting house Develop communication materials (SRHR^※1, diarrhea prevention and treatment, etc.) based on an SBCC^※2 communication strategy	Strenthen commuity support network by the Community Health Management Committee members (regular meetings, community action plan, etc.) Promoting income-generating activities in communities (farming, soap making, etc.)
Improvement of water hygiene	Ensuring hand-washing facilities with safe water and soap	Training for developing an SBCC strategy to communicate the methods for preventing and treating diarrhea of children Develop health education materials based on an SBCC strategy Training for new maternal and child health promoters and OTCM sellers
Improvement of nutritional status		Providing breastfeeding and nutrition education for parents or guardians of children

Improvement of access to quality healthcare services	This project will improve the tangible factors of two health facilities with low physical accessibility. At Akateng Health Center, we will construct a maternity waiting house, for the first time in Ghana, to create an environment in which pregnant women can receive appropriate care until childbirth with peace of mind. Furthermore, we will also provide community-wide awareness education at six health facilities, targeting healthcare workers, maternal and child health promoters, OTCM sellers, youth peer educators, male partners of pregnant and breastfeeding women, and other family members. Through these efforts, we aim to improve the health of mothers and children.
Reduction of diarrhea among children	We will prepare handwashing facilities with soap and safe water and provide health education and sensitization for community people, using educational materials on nutrition and prevention of childhood diarrhea. We aim to reduce diarrhea in children by enhancing the knowledge of community people.

Improvement of access to quality healthcare services

This project will improve the tangible factors of two health facilities with low physical accessibility. At Akateng Health Center, we will construct a maternity waiting house, for the first time in Ghana, to create an environment in which pregnant women can receive appropriate care until childbirth with peace of mind. Furthermore, we will also provide community-wide awareness education at six health facilities, targeting healthcare workers, maternal and child health promoters, OTCM sellers, youth peer educators, male partners of pregnant and breastfeeding women, and other family members. Through these efforts, we aim to improve the health of mothers and children.

Reduction of diarrhea among children

We will prepare handwashing facilities with soap and safe water and provide health education and sensitization for community people, using educational materials on nutrition and prevention of childhood diarrhea. We aim to reduce diarrhea in children by enhancing the knowledge of community people.