RDP
The Setting
Ghana, a West African country of ~24 million people, is administratively divided into regions, which are then subdivided into districts. The Akatsi District is one of 15 districts in the Volta Region in Eastern Ghana and has a population of ~100,000. The people of the Akatsi District work mostly in agriculture, eating and trading their crops.
The healthcare system in the town of Akatsi, the capital of the Akatsi District, is sufficient to meet most needs of the immediate population. There is one government clinic and three private clinics. Recently the National Health Insurance Scheme came to the Akatsi District and about 60% of the district has joined. While this is an impressive program, many of those who have not joined are the poor living in the rural villages. These people often have trouble reaching the district capital to receive healthcare, especially in emergencies.
Child health in Ghana more generally has been extensively studied in a variety of settings with a variety of foci.1,2,3 Health studies addressing the specific population of the Volta Region of Ghana, however, have been few. Studies have shown chronic ill-health due to under nutrition and anemia among school children.4 Parasitic infections have chronically plagued the population of the Akatsi District and have contributed extensively to poor child health and development.5 Gender roles in the region exert negative pressures on child health access in separate studies.6,7
The need for a better understanding of the health issues facing the child population is demonstrated by the childhood mortality rates among Ghanaian children. Despite a recent stagnation in childhood mortality, children in Ghana under the age of five die at a rate of 101 per 1000 live births.8 The global average is 80.3. Infant mortality rates are also above the global average.9 Despite the progress that has been made in Ghana, there is still much to accomplish. The RDP seeks to address these needs in the Akatsi District.
1.Gyasi, R. T., Y. (2007). Childhood Deaths from Malignant Neoplasms in Accra. Ghana Medical Journal, 41(2), 78.
2.Oduro, Abraham R Koram, Kwadwo A Rogers, William Atuguba, Frank Ansah, Patrick Anyorigiya, Thomas Ansah, Akosua Anto, Francis Mensah, Nathan Hodgson,Abraham Nkrumah, Francis. (2007). Severe falciparum malaria in young children of the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana. Malaria Journal, 6, 96.
3.Reither, Klaus Ignatius, Ralf Weitzel, Thomas Seidu-Korkor, Andrew Anyidoho, Louis Saad, Eiman Djie-Maletz, Andrea Ziniel, Peter Amoo-Sakyi, Felicia Danikuu, Francis Danour, Stephen Otchwemah, Rowland N Schreier, Eckart Bienzle, Ulrich Stark, Klaus Mockenhaupt,Frank P. (2007). Acute childhood diarrhoea in northern Ghana: Epidemiological, clinical and microbiological characteristics. BMC Infectious Diseases, 7, 104.
4.The health and nutritional status of schoolchildren in Africa: Evidence from school-based health programmes in Ghana and Tanzania. The partnership for child development. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 1998;92( 3):254.
5.Diamenu, S K Nyaku,A A. Guinea worm disease—a chance for successful eradication in the Volta region, Ghana. Social Science Medicine. 1998;47( 3):405.
6.Tolhurst, Rachel Amekudzi, Yaa Peprah Nyonator, Frank K Bertel Squire,S Theobald, Sally. (2008). "He will ask why the child gets sick so often": The gendered dynamics of intra-household bargaining over healthcare for children with fever in the Volta region of Ghana. Social Science Medicine, 66(5), 1106.
7.Tolhurst, Rachel Nyonator,Frank K. (2006). Looking within the household: Gender roles and responses to malaria in Ghana. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 100(4), 321.
8.Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys of 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003
9.United Nations World Population Prospects Report 2006 Revision
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