The First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo has extended a heartfelt message of gratitude to all those who supported her fundraising event towards the construction of a one-storey maternity block for the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
The #SaveThemNow fundraising event jointly held by The Multimedia Group and the First Lady to save babies and mothers at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) received a massive support from individuals and companies.
The event which is targeted at raising an initial GHS10 million to put up a new Mother and Baby Unit for the largest hospital in the Ashanti Region, as well as other referral hospitals, saw companies such as GHACEM, producers of cement, and Promasidor manufacturers of cowbell donating money and other items.
So far, the event spurred on by complications mothers and their newborn babies face at the Mother and Baby Unit at KATH, raised close to 85 percent of its GHS10 million target in cash, cheques and pledges.
In a show of gratitude, Mrs Akufo-Addo posted on her Facebook page last Friday thanking all those who supported her SAVE A MOTHER SAVE A CHILD project.
“I would like to say a big thank you for the support at the launch of the SAVE A MOTHER SAVE A CHILD project. Your generous contributions mean a lot, and will go a long way to help achieve our goals,” she said.
“To all individuals, churches and companies, your generous pledged support in kind and in cash are very much appreciated,” she said.
She thanked Joy News’ Seth Kwame Boateng and The Multimedia Group for “bringing this to light and putting the event together on such short notice.”
The Joys News reporter handed a copy of his documentary Special Assignment documentary ‘Next To Die’ to Mrs Akufo-Addo and Second Lady Samira Bawumia after it aired on JOYNEWS channels on MultiTV.
She revealed at the fundraising event last week that they were horrified and disturbed after watching the awful conditions at KATH.
“We saw the need to help not only because we are mothers, but because fate has put us in a position where we cannot fail to act.
“Like Esther in the Bible, we felt that God has put us in our positions for a time like this,” she said.
Seth Kwame Boateng’s documentary highlighted maternal and child deaths as a result of lack of space and logistics at the hospital.
Doctors and other stakeholders have called for the speedy completion of an abandoned 1000-bed capacity maternal block for the hospital.
On the average, about 100 women are dying on delivery beds at the KATH in Kumasi annually, while about four babies die each day, sometimes seven babies lose their lives.
Doctors say the situation has reached a crisis level as women in labour are forced to join long queues for their turn to be attended to.
“Together we can provide much-needed support and assistance to new mothers with babies in intensive care,” she said ended her Facebook post.
The First Lady has promised to extend a helping hand to other health institutions in the country struggling with the infrastructure needed to save the lives of mothers and babies.