Stakeholders meeting on Mother Baby Friendly Health Initiative MBHFI Organized in Bongo-Soe

 

A stakeholder engagement meeting have been organized on Mother Baby Friendly Health Initiative, MBHFI, in Bongo-Soe, a suburb of the Bongo district in the Upper East Region.

The meeting was organized by the Integrated Youth Needs and Welfare INTYON a local NGO and the Ghana Health Service in Partnership with United Nations International Children Education Fun UNICEF.

The MBHFI concept is looking at globally how every mother and child will receive all the necessary quality healthcare from conception, during pregnancy and after delivery from the health facility to the human resource level with more emphasis to exclusive breastfeeding.

The programme is implemented in three countries, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Ghana.  In an interview with radio Ghana, the Bongo-Soe sub-district head of the Ghana Health Service Isaac Adabre indicated that the Upper East is the implementing region of the MBHFI Programme.

He added that the Bongo-Soe health facility is one of the four districts to benefit from the Programme.

Mr Adabre said, UNICEF is currently furnishing the facility with the requisite equipment to enable them provide the quality care that babies and mothers need.

 

According to the Executive Director of INTYON, Chief Issah Ibrahim, the meeting was to sensitize the chiefs, opinion leaders, traditional herbal practitioners, community members, volunteers, staff of the health facility, assemblymen and women with the view of bringing MBHFI to their doorsteps and the role each  member of the community is expected to play regarding exclusive breastfeeding.

                                                                               

Three women between the ages of 50 -56 years took turns to share the benefits of exclusive breast feeding with the 32 participants at the meeting.

It was discovered that traditional beliefs systems and customs still hinders the practices of exclusive breastfeeding and other child related diseases from visiting health facilities in the area.

The midwife in charge of delivery at the Bongo-Soe health facility, Cecilia Azitatige Ayeyuure, indicated that the facility has since the beginning of the year 2017 recorded 208 deliveries whilst August 2017 recorded 39.

Ms. Ayeyuure therefore appeal to the telecommunication companies to help improve the network in the area to enable them discharge quality healthcare to the people.

GBC                                                     END