Children to receive healthcare from their homes in the night

The National Ambulance Service (NAS) as part of the drive to enhance healthcare delivery across the country have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Florida, USA to provide emergency service to children during the night in their respective homes.

The initiative is being supported by the government of USA under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) seeks to offer life-saving emergency healthcare service to children.

The programme dubbed the MotoMeds project and offer services to paediatric night time telemedicine to children healthcare in times of challenges to access healthcare and however called the National Ambulance emergency numbers for swift medical services.

At a news briefing at the NAS office in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Professor Ahmed Nuhu Zakaria called for stakeholders in the health value chain to support the project saying it is one of the intervention by government to scale up healthcare for children across the country.

The project is currently being piloted at Jamestown and Ussher town all suburbs at Ga Mashie in the Greater Accra Region and also forms part of the initiatives to reduce child mortality which have been the core values of MotoMeds.

Professor Torben Becker, Associate Professor at the University of Florida disclosed that acute respiratory infection, malaria, diarrhoea are the leading causes of children’s death hence MotoMeds project is timely.

According to him, such ailments are treatable provided the required medications are in stock for the treatment of children and added that USAID remains committed to address the health needs of children to reduce infant mortality in the country.

In her remarks, Madam Gladys Tetteh-Yeboah of USAID said her outfit have put in place the needed health structures to support healthcare particularly children and explained that the project have created access to healthcare for children in the comfort of their homes mainly in the night.