GHS receives three Toyota Hilux pickups to boost maternal, child and reproductive health services

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has taken delivery of three Toyota Hilux pickup vehicles to improve the implementation and monitoring of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAHN) services in three regions.

The vehicles have been allocated to the Central, Eastern and Ashanti Regions to support field operations under the RMNCAHN Networks of Practice (NoP) initiative.

The vehicles were procured by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) serving as the implementing partner.

The initiative is expected to improve the mobility of health teams and strengthen supervision, monitoring and community-based interventions, particularly at the regional, district and community levels.

Presenting the vehicles to the GHS, KOICA Ghana Country Director, Mr Dong Wan Woo, said the donation reflected South Korea’s continued commitment to supporting Ghana’s efforts to improve healthcare delivery.

He said the vehicles would enable project teams to move more efficiently to communities and health facilities to undertake critical programme activities.

Mr Woo urged the beneficiary regions to ensure that the vehicles were properly utilised to advance the objectives of the RMNCAHN Networks of Practice programme.

Receiving the vehicles on behalf of the Ghana Health Service, the Director-General, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, stressed the importance of responsible management, sustainability and local ownership of the donated assets.

He said the success of such interventions depended not only on the provision of resources but also on ensuring that they remained functional and useful over time.

Dr Kaba Akoriyea assured stakeholders that the GHS had the capacity to maintain the vehicles, noting that its mechanical workshops were equipped to undertake routine servicing and repairs.

He explained that the vehicles had been assigned specifically to regional teams and field officers to facilitate supervision, monitoring and community outreach, with the broader objective of improving primary healthcare delivery in beneficiary districts.

For UNICEF, Deputy Representative Ms Emmanuelle Collet said the Networks of Practice initiative was designed to strengthen the links between health systems, communities and frontline health workers.

She described the vehicles as an investment in improved supervision, quicker coordination and more consistent support for health workers delivering services at the community level.

Ms Collet reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to working with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service and KOICA to turn national health policies into practical interventions capable of improving outcomes for mothers and children.

Beyond the vehicles, UNICEF and KOICA are also completing the procurement of 38 additional pieces of medical equipment and supplies for health facilities in the targeted regions.

The Director of the Family Health Division of the GHS, Dr Kennedy T.C. Brightson, said the improved mobility would have a direct impact on several community-level health interventions.

According to him, health teams would be better positioned to conduct home visits for newborns and mothers during the postnatal period, allowing health workers to identify sick infants early and facilitate timely referrals.

The improved access would also support focused antenatal care and doorstep maternal health assessments, including monitoring pregnant women for high blood pressure and ensuring that complications are identified and managed promptly.

He added that the programme would facilitate nutrition and reproductive health interventions, including the distribution of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), aimed at supporting the health and development of mothers and children.

On efforts to reduce maternal and perinatal deaths, Dr Brightson said Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) audits remained an important mechanism for identifying the underlying causes of deaths and addressing gaps in clinical care.

He explained that the audits help health authorities examine maternal and perinatal deaths systematically and use the findings to improve the quality and safety of services, particularly in labour wards.

Dr Brightson therefore appealed to the media and the public to pay greater attention to evidence from institutional reviews and efforts to address identified challenges rather than sensational claims circulating on social media.

He said constructive collaboration among health institutions, communities and media partners was essential to creating a safer healthcare system and reducing preventable deaths among mothers and children.

Story by: Hawa Abubakar