By Juliet ETEFE
The Kokrokoo Charities Foundation has donated the third incubator to the Ho Government Teaching Hospital in the Volta region to help reduce neonatal deaths among babies born pre-term.
The foundation earlier donated two incubators to the hospital in 2018 and added the third one on Saturday, March 2, 2024.
It added other items including scraps, crocs, cover coats, two fridges, sanitary tissues, and a mobile phone to aid operations at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Ho Teaching Hospital.
In an address after the donation in Ho, Founder of Kokrokoo Charities, who doubles as the host of Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Morning Show, Kwami Sefa Kayi explained that US$10,000 was raised by friends especially those of Villandro Palms in Ho and Teddies Irish Pub in East Legon, Accra, to acquire the items for the unit.
The incubators were acquired by the Foundation as part of its ‘Project 100’ initiative, where it intends to donate 100 incubators to hospitals across the country to help reduce the rate of infant mortality.
Mr. Sefa Kayi noted that Saturday’s donation marks the 55th incubator donated by the Foundation to various hospitals all over the country.
He, therefore, assured of the Kokrokoo’s zeal to meet the 100 target, which he is confident will better position the neonatal intensive care units, which offer specialised treatment to guarantee the survival of preterm infants.
“It is very heartwarming to see these children who have benefited from the earlier incubators. We are proud of what we have done. We are happy that we, through kind donations from companies, individuals, families, and friends, are doing this project. So, 55 down, 45 to go, we agreed to donate 100 incubators. It would not be easy but by God’s grace, we are on it”, he said.
For his part, the Head of Department for Pediatrics and Child Health unit at the Ho Teaching Hospital, Dr. Bright Richard Danyo expressed gratitude to the benefactors for their kind gesture, adding that with the new addition, the unit can boast of 11 functional incubators.
He said the hospital records about 300 preterms every year however mortality has dropped to 15 percent, thanks to some of these interventions that have increased the survival rates.
“Infection prevention is key in care of preterms and it is one of those reasons why the incubator is going to be helpful and then it is helping us reduce our mortality as well. We are grateful that they brought this,” he said.
Appeal for mothers’ hostel
He further appealed to corporate Ghana to help construct a mothers’ hostel for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, explaining that mothers who have preterm babies on admission have no place to sleep than the floor.
“One of the things that we need is a mother’s hostel. The places they are sleeping are not good. Some of them, their babies are staying with us for three months to even eight weeks. We hope that Corporate Ghana will listen to our cries,” he said.
Kokrokoo Charities Foundation is a social intervention initiative aimed at identifying and addressing critical social needs in Ghana and helping resolve emerging development challenges.
The Foundation is intended as a fund-raising platform to channel resources and funds, thus generated, in support of the needs identified using the Kokrokoo Morning Show as a vehicle. The aim is to generate considerable empathy and funds from the general public and corporate world in support of the Foundation’s work.
