Pregnant Women Seek Clearance From Fetish Priest

By Kwesi Yirenkyi Boateng, 13 May 2011

The assertion that religion is fundamental to the lives of many is not an overstatement, at least, to pregnant women in Adaklu-Anyigbe District. Pregnant women in some of the traditional areas in the District are so much imbued with their traditional beliefs to the extent that before they seek medical care; they seek clearance from the chief priest.
The Co-ordinator of the Adaklu-Anyigbe District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme, Mr. Charles Agbeve, made this startling revelation in an interview following a day's outreach programme organized in Adaklu-Helegbe, and Adaklu-Ahunda, two of the communities in the District, by members of the Federation of Ghana Catholic Health Trainees (FGCHT), as part of their 10th Annual Congress at Ho.
According to him, whenever there was an outbreak of diseases like cholera or diarrhea the gods were consulted. He added that although about 65 per cent of people were registered with District Health Insurance Scheme, lack of the health and laboratory facilities coupled with the strong beliefs of the people in their deity and the vast nature of the District were adversely affecting the effective coverage of the Scheme.
He also observed that because of the lack of health facilities which were impeding on quality health care delivery, and the closeness of the District to other health facilities in neighbouring Districts, people in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District have rather registered with those District Mutual Schemes.
Mr. Agbeve said in the face of a strong belief system there was the need to employ face-face interaction and continuous sensitization to convince them to embrace the scheme.
The people of the Adaklu-Anyigbe District in the Volta Region are struggling to access quality health care, since the District lacks a hospital, a laboratory and the critical staff to man the few health centres in the District.
Of the five health centres in the District, there is only one Medical Assistant at the Adidome Health Centre, and with six midwives in the District.
The lack of these facilities and personnel is not just hampering quality health delivery but greatly impeding the country's drive to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of reducing mother and child mortality rate by two-thirds in the country and improving the health care delivery, which is paramount in the socio-economic development of the people in the District.
At the programme, Madam Patience Nunoo, Acting District Health Director, formally introduced Madam Grace Agrigo, the new Midwife for the Adaklu-Ahunda Health Centre, and urged members of the surrounding communities, especially pregnant women and lactating mothers to patronize the facility.
The town for the past eight years has been without a Midwife. It only has two skilled Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs). Meanwhile, the Acting District Health Director has re-echoed the District's resolve to encourage Skilled Birth Deliveries instead of the Traditional Birth Delivery.
Madam Nunoo, who was delighted at the health screening exercise in the two towns, bemoaned the people's lack of interest to access the health facilities.
She said the District Mutual Health Insurance Office would be rolling-out other programmes and these include drama by school children, and documentaries which would be shown in the various communities.
The Ahunda Electoral Area Assemblyman, Mr. Alexander Sheshie, who thanked the FGCHT for coming for the health screening programme and appealed for support to help furnish the Health Centre and stock it with the health equipment needed to make the facility functional.