Hospital Delivers Babies With Sachet Water

The severity of the water crisis in the country is affecting most Ghanaians including unborn babies, and this is 51 years after Ghana became independent. As a result of the water shortage, the maternity section of the La Government Hospital has been compelled to use sachet water, popularly referred to as ‘pure water’ to deliver babies. According to a TV3 news bulleting aired Thursday evening, March 6, 2008, the hospital has no other option than to buy sachet water for use in deliveries and other medical care. On the news bulleting, nurses and other health workers were seen carefully opening the sachets and emptying the water into buckets for use. This activity apart from the cost element is also time consuming, especially in the light of the human resource shortages that most health facilities, including the La Government Hospital are facing. Scarce human resources, who are already overworked, are compelled by the situation to spend time emptying sachet water into buckets. The hospital on Independence Day March 6, 2008, had six deliveries. Unfortunately for these new born babies, the 51 years of independence has not delivered on the most essential of human needs, water, to make their entry into the world any smoother.