“The five per cent who die annually are actually candidates for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but there is no such facility for children in the hospital,” the head of the CHS, Professor Bamenla Goka, said.

He was speaking to the Daily Graphic when the 1997 Year Group of the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS) donated some items to the Children’s Ward of Korle Bu last Friday.

Donation

The items included children’s clothing, toys, books and syringes.

The group made a similar donation to the Princess Marie Louise Hospital in Accra.

Space drought

Prof. Goka said the major challenge confronting the CHS Department of Korle-Bu was lack of space to cater for the children.

She said the Emergency Ward catered for only 20 children, even though an average of 50 patients were admitted during a particular period.

"If you get to the Emergency Ward of Korle Bu, you will see two or three children sharing the same bed because some are brought to the facility in critical conditions and we cannot let them go away due to lack of space.

"The negative effect of this practice is that some of the children may end up getting diseases that are alien to their system," she said.

Prof. Goka said although children between the ages of 15 and 18 were supposed to be treated at the CHS, the department had been compelled to send some of the children to other departments because of lack of space.

"We are looking forward to the timely roll out of the new initiative to expand the infrastructure to handle all the cases," she said.

Child care

She urged parents to prioritise the health of their children by responding to their psychological needs.

Presenting the items, the President of the group, Dr Kojo Cobba Essel, underscored the need for the government and other stakeholders to collaborate to improve on child health care,since children held the future of the country.

He said the year group, as a matter of social responsibility, would continue to support the CHS Department and other facilities with equipment to improve on health care.