CATHOLIC HEALTH SERVICE BUILDS HEALTH FACILITY (PAGE 29, FEB 3, 2010)

A $500,000.00 obstetric fistula and maternity unit built by the Cape Coast Archdiocese of the Catholic Health Service at Mankessim in the Mfantseman Municipality has been inaugurated.
Dubbed “The Mercy Women’s Centre”, the construction of the 60-bed capacity facility is to enhance accessibility to antenatal and postnatal problems to improve healthcare delivery in the area.
It is estimated that almost 600,000 women die annually as a result of lack of effective care during pregnancy and childbirth.
For every death, 30 more women suffer long-term damage to their health from obstetric fistula and that often affect mostly young mothers aged between 14 and 20 years as a consequence of neglect leading to obstructed labour and commonly also from cultural practices such as female circumcision.
Obstetric fistula is a severeA medical condition in which a fistula (hole) develops either between the rectum and vagina (recto-vaginal fistula) or between the bladder and vagina (vesico-vaginal fistula) after complications resulting from childbirth.
This occurs when adequate medical care is not available for the woman during labour or due to other factors such as laceration, rape and other sexual trauma.
Women who develop any of these conditions pass urine or stool or both through the vagina, thereby putting them in a bad condition, which consequently affects their social, psychological and physical life.
Currently, fistula patients in Ghana compete for the space and time of health workers with other patients in the three major hospitals in the country, which are the Tamale, Komfo Anokye and Korle-Bu teaching hospitals. The first fistula centre was inaugurated in Tamale in July last year.
Obstetric fistula patients suffer pain, humiliation and life-long physical weakness if they do not receive medical care. There are an estimated two million women living with this condition mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and in Ghana it is estimated that fistula occurs at a rate of about one to two of all deliveries.
The concern among healthcare providers about the rate of maternal mortality and the number of women with obstetric fistula and the lack of facilities necessary to cater for such people, prompted the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast to establish the centre.
Speaking at the inauguration last Friday, the Apostolic Administrator, Most Reverend Matthias Kobina Nketsiah, said the centre was established in fulfilment of God’s command to mankind to show love and compassion to one another.
Bishop Nketsiah commended His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, for being instrumental in the establishment of the centre and said it demonstrated his interest in health delivery services in the country.
He also commended the Sisters of Mercy of the United States of America and the Ghana Ireland Friendship Trust which provided funding and support for the project.
The acting Regional Director of Health Service, Dr S.T. Kwashie, asked management to ensure discipline by being firm and decisive.
He called on other churches to emulate the example of the Catholic Church by providing health facilities in the country.
A consultant and Chairman of the management board, Dr John B. Wilson, said the centre had a hostel to rehabilitate patients treated at the obstetric fistula unit to enable them to be reintegrated into society.
The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, said the Regional Co-ordinating Council would collaborate with the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly to ensure the smooth and effective functioning of the centre.
The Omanhen of the Mankessim Traditional Area, Osagyefo Amanfo Edu VI, who chaired the function, advised the management to ensure the maintenance of the facility for patients to derive maximum benefits from it.