Prioritising and including children in intersectoral policymaking: uncovering Immunity to Change in Ghana.

Despite strong commitments to improving children's well-being, nearly a third of Ghanaian children aged 36-59 months are not developmentally on track, with additional challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Improvements in children's health and well-being rely on effective intersectoral policies, however, not enough is known about how to achieve this in practice, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We report on a case study of participatory intersectoral policymaking for child health in Ghana in 2021, feeding into the national Early Childhood Care and Development Policy.

Facilitators of co-leadership for quality care.

argue that national leadership for quality of care requires working in a co-leadership model such that quality and programme units have equal standing and clearly defined individual roles and responsibilities

Situational Analysis on the Impact of Perinatal Deaths Among Bereaved Families in Ghana.

Annually, about 5.9 million perinatal deaths occur worldwide, leaving millions bereaved due to stillbirths or early neonatal deaths. The highest burden of stillbirths (97%) and newborn deaths (98%) occurs in lower- and middle-income countries, with the majority occurring in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Transitioning to the maternal death surveillance and response system from maternal death review in Ghana: Challenges and lessons learned.

Objective: To assess the current system of maternal death review (MDR) in Ghana and identify the achievements, challenges, and gaps that will assist in transitioning to the maternal death surveillance and response system (MDSR).

Methods: A secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study on MDSR implementation was conducted between September and October 2018. The MDSR cycle served as an analytical framework to measure the country's performance in implementing MDSR.

Pilot testing of the Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly toolbox in Ghana.

Background: Ghana has achieved significant progress in breastfeeding practices in the past two decades. Further progress is, however, limited by insufficient government funding and declining donor support for breastfeeding programs. The current study pretested feasibility of the in Ghana, to assess the existing enabling environment and gaps for scaling-up effective actions.

Pneumonia in Ghana-a need to raise the profile.

Despite the high mortality, pneumonia retains a relatively low profile among researchers, funders and policymakers. Here we reflect on the problems and priorities of pneumonia in Ghana, briefly review the evidence base and reflect upon in-person discussions between Southampton-based authors MGH and JB and academic, clinical and policy colleagues in Ghana. The discussions took place in Accra in August 2017.

Effectiveness of two community-based strategies on disease knowledge and health behaviour regarding malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Ghana.

Background: Ghana has developed two community-based strategies that aim to increase access to quality treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and suspected pneumonia, and to improve household and family practices: integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) and Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS). The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of iCCM and CHPS on disease knowledge and health behaviour regarding malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Methods: A household survey was conducted two and eight years after implementation of iCCM in the Volta and Northern Regions of Ghana respectively, and more than ten years of CHPS implementation in both regions.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the national implementation of integrated community case management and community-based health planning and services in Ghana for the treatment of malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Background: Ghana has developed two main community-based strategies that aim to increase access to quality treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and suspected pneumonia: the integrated community case management (iCCM) and the community-based health planning and services (CHPS). The aim of the study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of these strategies under programme conditions.

Methods: A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted.

Observations from Mortality Trends at The Children's Hospital, Accra, 2003-2013.

Objective: Facility-based studies provide an unparalleled opportunity to assess interventions deployed in hospitals to reduce child mortality which is not easily captured in the national data. We examined mortality trends at the Princess Marie Louise Children's Hospital (PML) and related it to interventions deployed in the hospital and community to reduce child mortality and achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4).

Methods: The study was a cross-sectional review of data on consecutive patients who died at the hospital over a period of 11 years, between 2003 and 2013.

Evaluating a novel neonatal-care assessment tool among trained delivery attendants in a resource-limited setting.

Objective: To validate a novel objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) tool for assessing neonatal care skills among delivery attendants trained as part of the Essential Care for Every Baby (ECEB) program and to assess ECEB training effectiveness.

Methods: Between August 1 and September 30, 2015, a cross-sectional study enrolled ECEB-trained healthcare providers who attended deliveries from the Brong Ahafo and Eastern regions of Ghana. Participants completed a previously developed 21-item OSCE tool that assessed neonatal-care competency.

Integrated community case management and community-based health planning and services: a cross sectional study on the effectiveness of the national implementation for the treatment of malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Background: Ghana has developed two main community-based strategies that aim to increase access to quality treatment for malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia: the Home-based Care (HBC) and the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS). The objective was to assess the effectiveness of HBC and CHPS on utilization, appropriate treatment given and users' satisfaction for the treatment of malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Methods: A household survey was conducted 2 and 8 years after implementation of HBC in the Volta and Northern Regions of Ghana, respectively.

Using quality improvement methods to test and scale up a new national policy on early post-natal care in Ghana.

Introduction: The first week of life presents the greatest risk of dying for a young infant. Yet, due to the sociocultural, financial, geographical and health system barriers found in many resource-poor settings, infants do not access health care until much later. To reduce neonatal mortality, the Ghana Health Service proposed a new policy that promotes skilled care during the first week of life.

What could infant and young child nutrition learn from sweatshops?

Background: Adequate infant and young child nutrition demands high rates of breastfeeding and good access to nutrient rich complementary foods, requiring public sector action to promote breastfeeding and home based complementary feeding, and private sector action to refrain from undermining breastfeeding and to provide affordable, nutrient rich complementary foods. Unfortunately, due to a lack of trust, the public and private sectors, from both the North and the South, do not work well together in achieving optimal infant and young child nutrition.

Discussion: As the current debate in infant and young child nutrition is reminiscent of the "sweatshop" debate fifteen years ago, we argue that lessons from the sweatshops debate regarding cooperation between public and private sectors - and specific organizational experiences such as the Ethical Trading Initiative in which companies, trade unions, and civil society organizations work together to enhance implementation of labour standards and address alleged allegations - could serve as a model for improving cooperation and trust between public, civil society and private groups, and ultimately health, in infant and young child nutrition.

Implementation of the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study in Ghana.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) African site was Accra, Ghana. Its sample was drawn from 10 affluent residential areas where earlier research had demonstrated the presence of a child subpopulation with unconstrained growth. This subpopulation could be identified on the basis of the father's education and household income.