Tackling Anemia in Ghana's North East Region
How Health Workers Help to Tackle Anemia in Pregnant Women in the Mamprugu-Moagduri district of Ghana
Gloria explaining medication to a pregnant mother
Pregnant mothers at ante-natal clinic in Ghana
“Most of the time when pregnant women come for antenatal services for the first time, we find many of them recording low levels of hemoglobin, and we have to provide them with the necessary nutrition and health care to prevent their conditions from getting worse” says Gloria Danyagri, a midwife at the Kunkwa Subdistrict health center.
According to the Ghana Health Service, over 67 percent of pregnant women who were tested for anemia (low levels of hemoglobin (Hb)) during their first visit to the clinic (at registration) in the Kunkwa subdistrict from January to December 2022 were anemic.
I have learned to diagnose and manage pregnant women who suffer from anemia through training that I received in the prevention and management of anemia."
Haemoglobin testing process
“It was through the Anemia Prevention & Control training that I learned that a pregnant woman who has been diagnosed of severe anemia (if Hb is less than 7g/dl) required immediate referral to the appropriate health facility that could offer the right treatment while the one with a moderate condition (if Hb is less than 11g/dl) would need counseling on diet, increase of sulphate intake and should be advised to revisit the facility after two weeks for a review and further support”, she explained.
The training equipped us with knowledge on the use of hemoglobin measuring devices, preventive measures, best approaches for counseling clients, and appropriate interventions to implement to save pregnant women based on their anemia status.
Nurse examining a pregnant woman
"The difference in the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women at registration and 36 weeks in 2022 indicates that the health workers are using the knowledge and skills they gained from the trainings, and I am very happy that our efforts are yielding results.
The training is paying off. He cites the reduction in the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women in the Kunkwa subdistrict from 67.4 percent at registration to 39 percent at 36 weeks from January to December 2022."
Zakaria Madi, District Nutrition Officer, Mamprugu-Moagduri
Since June 2022, USAID Advancing Nutrition has supported the GHS to train 1399 critical health staff (785 females, 614 males) in APC in 17 districts in northern Ghana and plans to train 950 more in 38 other districts.
