Introduction:
The La Constance Center is an NGO registered in the USA (with a 501 C3 Status) and as well in Ghana and dedicated to providing Global Health Exposure to Trainees. [Students (Medical and others) Residents and Faculty] to Global Health Experience in Maternal and Child Health in Ghana.
If you are a Health Care Professional looking for an excellent Internship in Global Health experience in Maternal Health look no further. Come to Ghana and enjoy the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality while you satisfy your appetite global health requirements. Indeed, if you even wish to volunteer for global health activity in maternal health this program is right for you.
Definition:
Global Health in this context is considered as the area of study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people world wide
Vision:
The vision of the of the La Constance Global Health Center is the elimination of health disparities by creating an opportunity for Trainees to understand and have a feeling for the disparities in poorly resourced health environments
Mission Statement:
To create the opportunity and establish the processes and programs for Medical Students, Residents, Fellows, Faculty and allied health personnel worldwide obtain an effective exposure to and study the health environment and limitations affecting maternal care in Ghana and its impact on health outcomes and to use such exposure to shape their future in approach to Maternal and Child Care
Value Proposition:
Health Equity will hinge on our understanding of the factors involved and a passionate desire to be part of the change process.
Location:
The location of the La Constance Institute for Global Health is in Akropong Akwapim in the Eastern Region of Ghana with the Tetteh Quashie Memorial Hospital (TQMH), located 58 kilometers from the national capital, Accra and serving as the main Hospital Site. The catchment area includes at least 8 health centers, 18 community health and planning services (CHPS) of which a total of 13 attendants’ births, serving a population of 145,263 persons. There are 19 urban towns and at least 150 rural communities where remote health posts are located at a distance as far as 37.5 kilometers from TQMH. There is an expanse facility of all levels to serve the need of the Trainees
Action Plan:
- The Center will organize medical missions of medical trainees to poorly resourced environments to encourage exposure and understanding health limitations in these areas
- The Center will offer mentoring programs while the trainees are abroad to ensure a complete integration of knowledge and outcomes
- The Center will solicit for and donate medical supplies and equipment to the poorly resourced areas to enhance the quality of health care delivery in these areas
- The Center will encourage appropriate research that can be used as evidence-based methodology to drive health outcomes
- The Center will do analysis to ensure an alignment of its programs and impact on the trainees and health outcomes in the targeted areas
Scope of Activity of the Center
- La Constance will offer a program content that will embrace Didactic Courses, Research, Clinical Electives, Cultural Experiences, Mentorship and Capstone Projects based on the needs and expectations of the Trainee
The La Constance Center of Global Health in Maternal and Child Health will
- Advise on the contents of the Global Health Content Bags to accompany the trainee
- Advise on Air Travel Needs (Ticketing, Immunization, Visa , Health Insurance etc based on the travel guidelines of the CDC,USA)
- Arrange for all Licensing approvals with the Ghana Dental and Medical Council in good time to meet the clinical needs of the Trainees visit
- Obtain IRB Approval for Research Projects
- If the global health activity will involve research, IRB approval will be required from the Parent Institution and presented to the Center 6 months prior to the visit for Local (Ghana approval)
- Provide Transportation Needs while in Ghana
- Provide Food and Accommodation Needs (See Attached)
Trainees will be housed in a well-appointed Guest House located in Akropong Akuapem and central to the center of operations and provided with a Chef of International and Local Cuisine repute. Trainee rooms will have Internet access to enhance communication.
- Cognizant of the security needs of the Trainees, the Center has engaged the services of the local Chapter of Ghana Police to ensure security of the Trainees while in Ghana
- Organize the Medical Institutions and Health centers for Involvement in the Clinical Aspects of the Global Health Program
The Center has mapped out 18 Midwifery Centers and a District Hospital in the Akuapem District that will be used for medical interactions.
- Arrange for Interaction of Trainees with the Ghana College of Physician and Surgeons and the Ghana Medical School
The Center has an MOU with the Ghana College of Physician and Surgeons and the Ghana Medical School to enable Trainees to interact with Ghana Resident, Fellows and Medical Students for a mutually beneficial networking opportunity
- Arrange Culturally Sensitive Social Programs based on the desires of the Trainees
Other Health Narrative in Ghana
There was about 15 physicians and 93 nurses per 100,000 persons in 2010. 5.2% of the country’s GDP was spent on health in 2010. 97.5% of the Ghanaian population have access to primary health care.
According to the World Health Organization the most common diseases in Ghana include those endemic to sub-Saharan African countries, particularly: cholera, typhoid, pulmonary tuberculosis, anthrax, pertussis, tetanus, chicken pox, yellow fever, measles, infectious hepatitis, trachoma, malaria, and schistosomiasis. Though not as common, other regularly treated diseases include dracunculiasis, dysentery, river blindness or onchocerciasis, several kinds of pneumonia, dehydration, venereal diseases, and poliomyelitis.
The WHO reports malaria and measles were the most common causes of premature death. In children under 5, 70 per cent of deaths were caused by an infection compounded by malnutrition. A 2011 report by the Ghana Health Service said that malaria was the primary cause of morbidity and about 32.5 per cent of people admitted to medical facilities were admitted because of malaria.
Women’s Health
The health of women in Ghana is critical for national development. Women’s health issues in the country are largely centred on nutrition, reproductive health and family planning. Reproduction is the source of many health problems for women in Ghana. The Ghana Living Standards Survey Report of the Fifth Round revealed that about 96.4% of women reported that they, or their partners, were using modern forms of contraception. This statistic has significant importance in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, which currently affects 120,000 women in Ghana (of the 230,000 people living with the disease in the country).
Interventions for improving the health of women in Ghana, such as the Ghana Reproductive Health Strategic Plan 2007-2011, focus on maternal morbidity and mortality, contraceptive use and family planning services, and total empowerment of women.
Maternal and Child Health Care
In June 2011, the United Nations Population Fund released a report on The State of the World’s Midwifery. It contained new data on the midwifery workforce and policies relating to new-born and maternal mortality for 58 countries. The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Ghana is 350. This is compared with 409.2 in 2008 and 549 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births is 72 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5’s mortality is 39. The aim of this report is to highlight ways in which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, particularly Goal 4 – Reduce child mortality and Goal 5 – improve maternal death. In Ghana the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 5 and the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women is 1 in 66.
Breast cancer
In Ghana, breast cancer is the leading malignancy. In 2007, breast cancer accounted for 15.4% of all malignancies, and this number increases annually. Roughly 70% of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in Ghana are in the advanced stages of the disease. In addition, a recent study has shown that women in Ghana are more likely to be diagnosed with high-grade tumors that are negative for.
Explanations for the delayed presentation among women in Ghana have been traced to the cost of, and access to, and routine screening mammography. Furthermore, women with breast cancer in Ghana describe a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness, largely due to their belief in fatalism, which contributes to denial as a means of coping. Mayo et al. (2003) conclude, however, that lack of awareness may be a more critical variable than fatalism in explaining health care decisions among women in Ghana.
Health spending averages 4.7 per cent of GDP, of which public expenditure is equivalent to 1.8 per cent of GDP and private expenditure 2.9 per cent. There are approximately 1.5 hospital beds per 1,000 people. In 2000, around 210,000 people were classified as HIV positive, representing 2.38 per cent of the population
All these disparities in the Comparative Health Statistics lend credence to the need by the Health Professional and indeed all Stakeholders to study these health disparities by Trainees in order to understand the scope of applicable and sustainable solutions and in consonance with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations