An estimated 2.5 million girls across all 16 regions of the country are now regularly reached with iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements to address the health threat which mainly affects women and children.
Achieved under its Girl’s Iron-Folate Tablet Supplementation (GIFTS) programme, this has led to the reduction in the prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls by 26 per cent between 2017 and 2022, according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
At a dissemination meeting of an impact assessment on the GIFTS programme in Accra, yesterday, it came to light that from 49 per cent in 2017, anaemia rates have declined to 44 per cent by 2022.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said adolescent health had long-term implications on national development, hence the need for targeted interventions like GIFTS to ensure they grow to realise their full potential.
He said the benefit of the programme was not only to improve health and academic performance of girls but reduce maternal mortality in the long-run which was a major health problem in the country.
“It would interest you to know that in Ghana, one of the top causes of maternal mortality, that is women who die related to pregnancy, is postpartum haemorrhage.
“Interventions to reduce anaemia among girls will ultimately lead to low prevalence of anaemia among women who become pregnant and then in the long-term, women will now have lower prevalence of anaemia at the time of delivery contributing ultimately to reducing postpartum haemorrhage and also maternal deaths,” he said.
Dr Kuma-Aboagye highlighted challenges including inconsistency in supply chains leading to shortages of drugs, untimely administration, myths and misconceptions as well as insufficient funding towards the programme.
He appealed to stakeholders including community leaders and partners to support the initiative to ensure adolescent girls grow into healthy, productive and successful adults in future.
“Let’s commit to prioritising health and nutrition of our children, investing in their potential and building a brighter future for our nation Ghana,” he appealed.
The Principal Investigator on the GIFTS project, Ms Esi Amoaful explained that in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on intermittent supplementation, “three months IFA supplementation are given to adolescents and then we break, so in total, the girls need very few supplements in a year.”
According to her, broadened partnership across all sectors were vital to sustaining and scaling up the initiative such that apart from commodity supply, supplies reached the schools on time.
Ms. Amoaful made the case for the government to take pragmatic steps in making diversified food products accessible and available to boost nutritional status of women and girls.
He said girls and women of reproductive age should not only take supplements but also maintain a balanced-diet.
Launched in 2017, GIFTS is a health education and nutrition initiative designed to reduce anaemia rates among girls aged 10 to 19, aiming to improve female reproductive health and lower mortality rates.
Anaemia, a condition with low red blood cell count or haemoglobin, affects about 500 million women globally. In Ghana, 40 per cent of women and around half of adolescent girls and pregnant women are affected by anaemia.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
