The G.A.S. Partnership is a tri-partite healthcare initiative between Ghana Health Services (GHS), AfriKids and Southampton University Hospitals Trust (SUHT), working in the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana.

This is an extremely poor region of one million people with healthcare indicators lagging behind the rest of Ghana. One in nine children currently die before their fifth birthday and there is only one doctor to 36,000 people. To put this into perspective, in the UK there is roughly 1 doctor for every 250 people. A huge problem is medical professionals’ reluctance to work in the region which is far less developed than the rest of the country and where opportunities for professional development are extremely limited. The G.A.S. Partnership for health is turning this situation around.

The G.A.S Partnership showcases how partnerships can bring tangible progress in the third world as well as inspiring and developing UK health workers. The focus of the Partnership is to reduce infant and maternal mortality throughout the whole UER of Ghana specifically by strengthening the healthcare workforce.

The Partnership has five specialty areas of focus; Diagnostics, Child Health, Theatres and Anaesthetics, Maternal Health and Estate Planning. In 2010 over 20 professionals travelled from Southampton to offer needs assessment and training to 326 AfriKids and GHS medical staff, as well as donating many necessary pieces of equipment, contributing to improving the health outcomes in the UER. Other highlights include:

·         Dramatically enhancing the x-ray facilities of the region by SUHT donating a mobile x-ray unit and training 4 radiographic assistants from scratch, providing much needed skills and services.

·         English and Ghanaian medical professionals working together to challenge cultural stereotypes of how to give birth, training over 150 midwives, aiming to reduce the number of women dying in childbirth.

·         Key equipment donated through the WHO delivered to enable anaesthetists in northern Ghana monitor how much oxygen is getting to patients during operations, saving lives.

·         A SUHT paediatrician and paediatric nurse together with AfriKids’ doctors and Matrons used their very different training and experience as a team on ward rounds to benefit very sick children.

·         Doctors, midwives and radiographers have been helped to make better use of the few ultrasound machines available to diagnose problems in pregnant women and others.

·         The SUHT director of planning helped AfriKids produce a site development plan for their rapidly expanding hospital and advised GHS on effective planning procedures for their proposed new teaching hospital.

The Partnership responds to need, complementing not replicating services already offered in the UER, enhancing the skills of the local medical professionals so they can make a lasting impact on the region.

Please help us to raise the much needed funds that will continue to make this great Partnership possible. 

To read more about the Partnership follow this link and to contact us please email info@gaspartnership.org



Thank you!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.