PROJECT #87
Project #87 | Increasing Access to Maternal Healthcare in Togo
Our partnership with Hope Through Health
The West African nation of Togo is one of the world’s poorest countries. Togo ranks 162 out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index, and the Togolese Government reports that only 30% of its population uses the public healthcare system, leaving 70% or 5 million people with no access to healthcare. Because of this, one in every ten children does not live to see their fifth birthday, and too many women die during childbirth. Hope Through Health (HTH) has been working to end preventable deaths in Togo, by strengthening the primary healthcare system first focusing on HIV/AIDs care delivery and since 2015, on maternal and child health. HTH’s model deploys Community Health Workers (CHWs) who deliver care to sick children in the home, while nurses and midwives provide quality maternal and child healthcare in clinics, creating a seamless unit of strengthened primary healthcare delivery. HTH’s Maternal and Child Health (MCH) program was designed to increase access to, timeliness of and quality of healthcare services for pregnant and postpartum women and children under five in the Kozah District of northern Togo. The program’s ultimate aim is to decrease rates of maternal and child morbidity and mortality over the long term.
The District Health Department selected the four public sector clinics based on their lack of existing child health services and extremely poor utilization rates. These clinics serve a total population of roughly 30,000 in the Kozah District. Through our partnership with Hope Through Health, a total of 13,204 women and children received better healthcare, while through CHWs and clinic-based nurses, 8,423 children were treated for malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition, the leading causes of death among children under five.
Our collective impact
Mothers Received Care
Health Workers Trained
People Impacted
Meet Honorine
With her first baby on the way, Honorine wasn’t sure how she was going to get by. When she learned that this program was recruiting Community Health Workers (CHWs), she immediately became interested. When her daughter was 3 months old, Honorine began the training to become a CHW. By the end she passed and was chosen as a new CHW for the village of Djamdé. “Everything changed for me then,” she says. “I no longer worry about providing for my baby. And the skills that I’ve learned as a Community Health Worker allow me to diagnose and treat my own daughter as well.” She sets out each morning, often with her baby on her back, to perform home visits, including everything from pre-and post-natal visits to sick child consultations, post-hospitalization follow-ups to birth plan and family planning counseling. Armed with rapid tests and medication, Honorine is able to diagnose and treat the major causes of child mortality, and connect pregnant women with lifesaving care at the health center. For Honorine, the most exciting part of her work is being involved in a program that has brought about so much positive change in her community. She explains how much she enjoys empowering mothers, seeing them learn how to take care of their health and their children’s health. “People have access to care that they never had before. And I get to be the one they call, the one who makes that happen. That’s why I love my job.”
Thank you for making this possible!
Our movement is grassroots, to us that not only means the work on the ground is led by local leaders with the support of the community, but it also means that we raise the funds for our projects through everyday donors just like you. In addition to all the donors that gave $25, $100, or $250 and the campaigners that ran a race or donated their birthday to raise funds, we also want to thank our generous business, school, and faith sponsors who believed in our work and joined the movement.
If you want to support future projects like this you can make a donation to our maternal health fund.
One Day's Wages is a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty
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