Citizens and health practitioners have been advised to be more vigilant in detecting neonatal diseases and be quick in providing its treatment.
This, according to Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, the advisor to the President on health matters, would aid immensely in reducing neonatal mortality rates in the country.
Dr Asare gave this advice in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, on the side line of a Jaundice Awareness and Treatment Conference, organised by the Africa Health Supplies, (AHS) in Accra.
He stated that neonatal jaundice frequently attacked infants over the years, and it was essential that health practitioners and nursing mothers were educated on detecting Jaundice and the ways to treat it.
Dr Asare said that most healthcare facilities lacked equipment needed to treat Jaundice, but gave the assurance that AHS would begin the assembling and sale of equipment to help battle jaundice.
“I hope that the participants at the workshop from their various facilities and communities would spread the message that jaundice can be treated if detected early, and continue to educate the public on how to detect jaundice,” he added.
Mr Henry Azanu, Head of Operations at AHS, said the essence of the conference was to educate mothers, nurses, midwives, doctors and the general public on the increasing rate of jaundice affecting infants, and how to detect and treat them.
He stated that AHS had launched an assembly plant at Nungua where the MTTS Firefly, the machine used in phototherapy, will be assembled and sold to health facilities to be able to detect and treat jaundice in infants.
Dr Isabella Sagoe-Moses, Acting Director of Family Health Division of the Ghana Health Service, said “we, at the Ghana Health Service, are ready to partner with anyone who will help to reduce, prevent and fight jaundice in the country”.
Jaundice is a neonatal disease that affects infants as a result of large amounts of bilirubin (broken down red blood cells) in their bodies. This is identified by a yellow discoloration in the sclera (the white part of the eye) and on the body and feet of the infant.
According to health experts at the conference, jaundice could be treated by immediate breastfeeding to the infant to push the excess bilirubin out of the system or through phototherapy where Ultra Violet (UV) light is used to make the bilirubin soluble to be easily passed through the excretory organs.
BY FREDERICK GADESE-MENSAH
