Stakeholders urged to support preterm babies to survive

Bolgatanga-Ghana, Nov. 19, GNA – The Rural Initiative for Self-Empowerment-Ghana (RISE-Ghana), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has called on stakeholders to support mothers and healthcare providers in their efforts to ensure every preterm baby survives.
Mr Awal Ahmed Kariama, the Executive Director of the NGO, in a signed statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the support would also ensure every preterm baby thrived and felt the therapeutic warmth of their parents through skin-to-skin contact.
Fifteen million babies are born prematurely every year, world-wide, it said
The statement was issued to mark the World Prematurity Day, celebrated annually on November 17.
This year’s celebration is on the theme: “A Parent’s Embrace: A Powerful Therapy. Enable skin-to-skin Contact from the Moment of Birth.”
Mr Kariama said investing in achieving the above theme was not only urgent but necessary to ensure the achievement of the SDGs and the Universal Health Coverage, reducing the burden of disability and care on women and families.
“The World Prematurity Day is a key moment to focus global attention on the leading cause of child deaths under age five and complications from preterm birth, which account for nearly one million deaths each year… (UNICEF),” he added.
“Without a major push to reduce those deaths, we will not reach the Global Goal, endorsed by 193 countries, to end all preventable new-born, and child deaths by 2030.”
He said Prematurity Day was important to draw public attention to the heavy burden of death and disability, pain and suffering associated with premature births.
“At least 29 per cent of neonatal deaths in Ghana are caused by premature births. A preterm birth is defined as a baby born alive before 37 weeks of the completion of pregnancy. Prematurity is the single largest cause of all under-five deaths affecting families all around the world,” he said.
Mr Kariama said Ghana’s National New-born Health Strategy and Action Plan 2019-2023 could not be achieved without paying attention to issues of preterm births.
To achieve the theme for 2022 it was critical to mobilise and activate positive communal values, invest in social and behaviour change, and improve on parental supports to ensure early stimulation was achieved in line with Ghana’s Nurturing Care Framework and Global efforts.
He commended UNICEF-Ghana, STAR-Ghana, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the Ghana Health Service and other partners for the great strides to ensure preterm babies thrived and survived.