How the UN is connecting healthcare providers, communities in Ghana

World Today

Faith was 7 months pregnant when she started to feel sick in the middle of the night. She suffered diarrhea and vomiting, and was worried she would lose her baby. Living in a remote community, she couldn’t get to a health facility. But, thankfully, professional help was just a phone call away.

In Ghana, a U.N.-funded medical scheme creates vital links between healthcare providers and communities. The idea is simple: provide local nurses and doctors with phones, and distribute their numbers to communities.

The scheme is having a profound impact on people living in remote areas or in places that are cut off by natural disasters like flooding.

The United Nations, along with the Global Environment Fund, is investing nearly $2 million in this project and others like it across Ghana.

CCTV’s Katerina Vittozzi reports.