Health

Access

Increase the number of children who can access primary healthcare free of charge through the National Health Insurance Scheme

Quality

Improve the quality of primary healthcare facilities and services for children and families 

Extra needs

Improve the quality of life for children living with disabilities or extra healthcare needs and their families 

Health advocacy

Increase the number families of people that understand and follow good health and well-being practices impacting children, including ante/ post-natal care, paediatric health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

Miracle by name, miracle by nature

A simple procedure after birth is all it takes to treat a child born with a small hole in their heart. But in Ghana's remote Upper East Region, qualified health professionals needed to carry this out are rare. For little Miracle, the situation was life threatening.

Her parents put everything into getting her to a hospital in the captial, Accra, but an extensive waiting list meant it wasn't looking positive.

An introduction to AfriKids Ghana Director, Nich, was a beacon of hope for the family and an immediate appeal was launched to raise funds for Miracle to have the surgery elsewhere. The procedure is only effective if carried out before six months and the time was drawing closer. With a public call for support, Nich and the team pulled through and Miracle was rushed to India for the surgery.

Returning to Ghana in full health, the team have been proud to see Miracle grow up and there were big celebrations for her first day at school!

A vital partnership

The GAS Partnership is an award-winning healthlink between Ghana Health Services, AfriKids and Southampton University Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust.

Medical professionals from Ghana and the UK benefit from sharing skills across teams, in five speciality areas: imaging and diagnostics, paediatrics, anasthaesia and surgery, maternal health and patient care. 

NHS workers from the UK volunteer their own time to work with health workers in Ghana, sharing knowledge, equipment and ideas. The focus for the partnership is to support Ghana Health Service to strengthen healthcare systems in northern Ghana, while also helping professionals from the UK to enhance their skills to provide better care for their own patients. 

More information: http://www.gaspartnership.org/