Ghana Essential Medicines Initiative (GEMI)

GEMI is designed to complement the work of an existing programme, the Community-based Health Planning and Services project, initiated by the Ghanaian government, which exempts children from all fees for essential medical care. This programme posts nurses to rural communities where they provide basic curative and preventative health, as well as door-to-door maternal and child health visits, and community health talks. The nurses keep in contact with a doctor from the region via a two-way radio. According to organisers, while the project has been successful in increasing access to health care, it has created an unsustainable demand for pharmaceuticals.

The GEMI project, by investigating solutions for providing essential medicines, as well as providing information for new mothers and instruction for healthy deliveries and care of newborns, hopes to fill this demand. Trained researchers routinely monitor and track drug inventories at district facilities using hand-held devices that permit the accurate collection and recording of data in a timely fashion. The project also purchases essential drugs and distributes them to the various districts. In future, organisers plan to conduct a district-wide household survey on the availability and affordability of health care and on women's accurate health knowledge and health-seeking behaviours.

Health, Women, Maternal Health

The health of mothers and children remains more precarious in rural areas of Ghana than in cities and towns. Infant mortality is 70 deaths per 1000 live births in rural areas compared with 50 deaths per 1000 live births in the country overall. Pregnant women and young children in rural areas are especially vulnerable to preventable and treatable diseases. Malaria alone accounts for 25% of Ghana's child mortality.