1. Visit the Antenatal Clinic as soon as you know you are pregnant and continue till you deliver. 2. Remember to as for Tetanus vaccine for pregnant women at the Antenatal Clinic. 3. If you feel unwell before your next Antenatal Clinic appointment report to the health facility. 4. Prepare to deliver in the health facility. Caregivers/Mother
1. Visit the health facility at least 2 times within the first week after birth for you and your baby to checked and treated if necessary. 2. Start breastfeeding within 30 minutes after delivery and give your baby only breast milk from birth to six months. 3. Keep baby cord clean and dry: use only medicine given by the health worker. 4. Keep the child clothing and rapping clean. 5. Wash your hands with soap under clean running water before handling or feeding your baby. 6. Cover your baby well to keep him/her warm always. 7. Complete your child’s immunization before the child is 2 years old. 8. Always take your sick child to the health facility for early treatment. 9. Make sure that your baby sleeps under long-lasting insecticide bet-nets every night and throughout the night. 10. Register your baby at birth or within one year. It gives the child legal recognition and social protection. 11. Take your child regularly for weighing and Vitamin A till your child is 5 years old. 12. Family planning makes mother and child grow healthy.
This year’s Child Health Promotion Week falls on the 11th to 15th May, 2014. The Child Health Promotion Week is 11 years old now. For the second year running the focus is still on the newborn because; • New-borns are still the most vulnerable. • There has been no significant decline in newborn mortality rates. • Newborn deaths are highly preventable This year, the Child Health Promotion Week will be launched on the 6th of May, 2015 in the Volta Region.
THEME: ‘I am A Newborn; Keep Me Clean, Help Me Live’
Newborn deaths due to sepsis (infections) can be reduced through; • Immunization for pregnant women • Clean birthing practices (Clean hands, surfaces, instruments, linen) • Early Initiation of breastfeeding • Clean cord • Eye prophylaxis • Antibiotics for treatment of infections
Everyone Has A Role To Play Health Workers o Improve Infection Prevention and Control Practices o Recognise and treat infections promptly o Communicate key messages to caregivers Caregivers o Observe good hygiene practices o Recognise danger signs and seek care promptly Recommended Actions Districts are entreated to engage policy makers, opinion leaders in our communities on the need to support and promote child health. Exhibitions on child health promotion can also be used to create massive awareness among the populace.
Intervention Package Immunization (Highlight messages on TD) Vitamin A Supplementation Growth Promotion Promotion of ITN use Birth Registration
The first 24 hours of a child's life are the most dangerous, with more than one million babies dying each year on their first and only day of life: The day a child is born should be a time of joy, yet it is the first days of life that carry the highest risk of death for the newborn.
Some statistics about Newborns Did you know that: • 1 million newborns die on their first- and only – day of life. • 1.2 million additional stillbirths occur during labour. • Newborns now account for more than 4 in 10 under-age-5 child deaths. • 40 million women give birth every year without a health worker present. • 2 million women give birth alone. In many communities around the world, newborn deaths are so commonplace that children are not even named until they survive their first month of life – the neonatal, or newborn, period.
What can we do? Newborn care is not only a health issue. All hands need to be on deck. To achieve change we need; • To bring newborn care to the fore. • A change in policy, practice, setting, behavior, attitude, thinking and strategy for keeping as many babies as possible alive. We are; • Calling on leaders, political, social, traditional leaders, and international organizations including the public, corporate bodies, individuals, groups, associations, societies Mothers, fathers and families of newborns in the Region to reach out for newborns.
We are asking for: • A policy change and/or implementation, • Behavior change • Resources: Money, incubators, time, suction bulbs, blankets, KMC corners, capacity, resuscitation tables, autoclaves, and all others to keep every baby alive.
Be a Newborn Champion
By transforming children's lives now, we change the course of their future and ours!
On April 25th people across the globe take part in a wide range of activities to mark World Malaria Day. For half the world every day is malaria day - a day to keep up the fight against this killer disease.
The theme, set by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, is Invest in the future: Defeat malaria. This reflects the ambitious goals and targets set out in a draft post-2015 strategy to be presented to the World Health Assembly in May. The new strategy aims to reduce malaria cases and deaths by 90% by 2030 from current levels.
Key Malaria Control Messages
Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs): Everyone in the family needs to sleep under an ITN, especially those most vulnerable to malaria: pregnant women and children under five years.
Diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases: Everyone with a fever, especially children under five years, needs to go to a facility promptly and have the fever diagnosed by a rapid diagnostic test or microscopy and then take the prescribed malaria treatment, if it’s malaria.
Intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy (IPTp): Pregnant women need to go an antenatal clinic (ANC) within the first trimester and return for additional visits, taking at least 2 doses of IPTp.
Indoor residual spraying (IRS): Families who are targeted for an IRS campaign need to prepare their homes for spraying and allow sprayers entry
Key Actions, by Intervention and Target Audience
ITNs: Delivered free through mass campaigns, routine delivery through ANC/immunization visits, social marketing, voucher programs, retail market
Families, decision makers, mothers • Acquire ITNs • Hang ITNs correctly; use them consistently • Wash the ITN with “regular” soap and hang (or lay) to dry in the shade
Health service providers and community volunteers, distributors (vendors)
• Promote ITNs at every opportunity (for example, antenatal clinic visits, child visits) • Give information on how/when to use ITN, including demonstrating how to hang • Distribute and explain vouchers as needed and provide information on where to get ITNs Community leaders, organizations • Promote ITNs at every opportunity (for example, community meetings, child health days) and special events and demonstrate use, hanging
IPTp: Delivered through routine ANC visits, at least twice during pregnancy
Women, mothers • Attend ANC in first trimester and return for each scheduled visit • Take number of SP doses recommended by country policy. Health service providers • Provide correct SP dose to healthy pregnant women at correct times; explain its purpose and potential side effects; ideally the woman will be observed taking her treatment • Encourage early and frequent ANC attendance; give appointments for next visit
Community leaders, organizations • Encourage early and frequent ANC visits, especially for IPTp
IRS: Delivered through annual or semiannual campaigns prior to rainy season in targeted areas of a country. Families • Prepare buildings before spraying • Allow sprayers inside home • Don’t wash or replaster walls after spraying is done. Sprayers • Carry out effective, quality operations • Wear protective equipment (ensure women who spray are not pregnant, potentially exposing the foetus) Community leaders, organizations • Facilitate spraying within their communities (planning, discussing with community, etc.)
REMEMBER:
The husband who buys a treated net for his pregnant wife to use nightly shows he is wise and forward-thinking, that he is investing in his family’s future.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, are not passed from person to person. They are of long duration and generally slow progression. The 4 main types of non-communicable diseases are cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
The increasing burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), threatens to overwhelm an already over-stretched health services. Conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus, mental health problems, chronic respiratory disease, injuries and disabilities, musculoskeletal conditions and genetic disorders challenge the health systems and absorb substantial amounts of resources. What Leaders should know about NCDs
• More than 75% of all deaths worldwide are due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). • NCD deaths worldwide now exceed all communicable, maternal and perinatal nutrition-related deaths combined and represent an emerging global health threat. Every year, • NCDs kill 9 million people under 60 years of age. The socio-economic impact is staggering. • It is estimated that poor diets, lack of exercise, smoking and excessive alcohol intake are major factors behind the deaths of a staggering 100,000 people every day. • Governments must urgently scale up NCD interventions to bring about the radical changes that are needed. • NCDs require multi-stakeholders solutions. No one single player working in silo can tackle the challenges of NCD alone. • Communities have the right to receive appropriate information on reducing the risk of NCDs and accordingly should be empowered to take the right lifestyle choices. • Civil society is well placed to mobilize political and public awareness and support against NCDs. • Key stakeholders need to address some of the fundamental issues in relation to NCDS
Key Messages Health Promotion
• NCDs affect everyone and are a development problem that threatens the MDGs. • NCDs require a response from all sectors, not just the health sector. • Success against NCDs is possible, and prevention is key. • A stronger health system is essential and will benefit all aspects of health care. • Action is urgently needed now. NCDs are costly and, as the epidemic keeps rising, will become a major economic issue for countries and families.
Breast milk is best for your baby, and the benefits of breastfeeding extend well beyond basic nutrition. In addition to containing all the vitamins and nutrients your baby needs in the first six months of life, breast milk is packed with disease-fighting substances that protect your baby from illness.
Ten things you may not know about exclusive breastfeeding
Every mother who chooses to exclusively breastfeed her baby in the first 6 months is doing the best thing she can to help her baby grow and stay healthy
Not all breastfeeding is equal and the differences are important:
o Exclusive breastfeeding: breast milk only - nothing else o Mixed feeding: adding anything else - water, juice, tea, formula, cereals, baby foods or other foods. Mixed feeding can increase the chances of a child getting infections
2. The healthiest babies are the ones who are exclusively breastfed. 3. Whilst breastfeeding, adding formula, water, teas, other drinks, cereals and other foods, in the first 6 months increases the baby's risk of getting diarrhoea, pneumonia, malnutrition and allergies. 4. The more the baby suckles at the breast, the more milk will be made. The way to make more milk is to feed the baby more often. If the baby is given a dummy or drinks from a bottle he/she will not suckle often enough from the breast, so the mother will make less milk. The baby may also become confused about how to suckle well, and may refuse the breast. 5. Breast milk only, with nothing else added contains all the nutrients and water a baby needs for the first 6 months of life 6. Colostrum cleans the stomach out, and breast milk is clean. No medicines or drinks should be used to clean the stomach. 7. The first milk (foremilk) that comes from each breast is nutritious, but looks thin and watery. This milk is especially to quench the baby's thirst. 8. After this foremilk comes the richer hind milk which contains extra fat and energy so the baby will feel full and grow strong. Let the baby drink until satisfied on one breast, before offering the other breast. 9. Constipation and diarrhoea are rare in exclusively breastfed babies. In the first few weeks babies commonly pass stools with every feed. Older babies, however sometimes only pass one soft stool a week, and this is fine. 10. Working mothers can continue exclusive breastfeeding by expressing breast milk at work and at home.
Expressed milk should be left covered in a clean container in a cool place, to be fed from a cup while the mother is away. Expressed breast milk will last 8-10 hours out of the fridge, and 3 days in a fridge. When the mother returns home, she should breastfeed the baby often through the night.
New-born deserves the best Nutrition, Improved Survival, Optimum Development and Healthy Life
