Mama Ann’s Odede Health Centre has continued growing from strength to strength. Our new Maternal Health Centre opened in 2021 and is processing over 5,500 patients a year and delivering approximately 50 babies a month. In 2022, we processed a total of 15,500 patients at the Health Centre for a variety of conditions. In 2021, we had our busiest year on record processing over 18,000 patients. Close to 30% of these patients were maternal health patients.
A few years ago, our Health Centre was selected as one of only a handful of facilities across the globe to trial the new Malaria vaccine for children. A total of 500 children have now been vaccinated over the past 2 years and the results have been remarkable. This vaccine trial will soon be rolled out across the globe and will save thousands of young lives every year. We are incredibly proud to share that we have been able to roll out this program on behalf of the World Health Organisation.
In 2013 when the Health Centre was first opened, the HIV rate in Odede was over 35%. It was our goal to reduce this figure significantly over the first decade through treatment programs, support, medication and education. Recently WYI has partnered with Coral Healthcare/Moments Condoms and thousands of condoms are now donated to the Health Centre each year. Our Nurses in Action teams are actively distributing condoms to teenagers and adults throughout the region and they are educating teenage girls and boys about the impact of HIV. We recently received a report from the Health Centre announcing that the HIV rate in Odede has now dropped to under 5%, a staggering result!
We are continuing to secure donations so we can purchase National Health Insurance Cards for families in and around Odede. These cards provide free healthcare to thousands of people allowing them to access all of the services we have to offer. This is the best way to ensure that local villagers can access the best possible health care for minimal or no cost.
We are now pitching our latest project to the corporate sector and we are looking to source funding so we can build an operating theatre and a recovery ward at the Health Centre. This will fulfill our next goal for the Health Centre and allow our impact to be even greater. Currently, our fully equipped ambulance transfers patients to other hospitals around the region for emergency operations and C-Sections.
World Youth International is now seeking support to expand the Odede Health Centre to include several new essential projects.
- Operating theatre and recovery ward – One of the great hurdles to overcome at the moment is a need to provide an operating theatre and recovery ward for the people of Odede. With the addition of a theatre, the Odede Health Centre will provide a range of essential services for the community and open a new revenue stream for the Health Centre. Construction of a new wing will be required to add the operating theatre and the recovery ward.
- Training centre and staff accommodation – Due to its isolation, we would like to build some new accommodation facilities at the Centre to house staff and volunteers. This will significantly reduce travel time for staff and assist with staff retention. A training centre is required to provide skilled training services to staff and the community. A new building will be constructed to house the staff accommodation and training centre.
- Solar power and back-up generators – The Centre currently relies on grid power which is unreliable due to regular blackouts and power surges. Our goal is to provide the Centre with solar power and to purchase a commercial grade backup generator ensuring that there is a constant flow of electricity at the Centre.
If any of these projects are of interest, please contact our Partnership’s Manager, Gabbi via email at [email protected] for a proposal pack.
