GHANA: 1 December 2009 (IRIN):
Internet og adgang til mobiltelefoner har kraftigt reduceret barselsdød bland kvinder i Ghana
Cell phones have cut dramatically the number of women dying during childbirth in Amensie village in south-central Ghana, according to local health officials. “We have not recorded a single maternal death in Amensie village since 2006 when this project started,” she said.
Before cell phone and internet technology were introduced to Amensie, some 20 women died in childbirth each year, according to Owusu. In 2008 none did.
Since 2006 development partners have built and improved Bonsaaso’s schools and health clinics and provided an ambulance to the nearest district hospital in Tonto Krom, 12km away.
But even with the district’s first ambulance maternal deaths did not decrease, as villagers could not communicate when they needed the vehicle, said Owusu.
Half of women in Ghana give birth at home with no skilled health worker present, while the lack of access to equipment and skilled health workers is a principal driver of childbirth deaths, according to UNICEF.
