Govt Urged to Invest in Early Child Devt

By Abeduwaa Lucy Appiah

The government has been urged to increase investment in Early Child Development (ECD) for children under two years in the country.

According to Dr Isabella Sagoe-Mensah, the Deputy Director of Reproductive and Child Health of the Family Health Division (FHD), Ghana Health Service (GHS), the investment would enable children to develop their full potentials.

Speaking at a media orientation workshop on the nurturing care framework for ECD under the theme "Investing in the Future", Dr Sagoe-Mensah noted that children needed special attention during their formative age to be able to grow physically and mentally.

She said although the government had made strides in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 4 which relates to access to quality ECD services, a lot more needed to be done.

She underscored the need for GHS and its partners to implement the Nurturing Care Framework to improve health, nutrition safety, security and other early childhood interventions.

Dr Sagoe-Mensah said data was critical in providing and targeting ECD interventions in the country, hence the need to collect data on key early childhood development indicators.

"It is vital that data on all areas of development be collected, analysed, disseminated and used at various levels to address the needs of children," she added.

The Director of FHD, GHS, Dr Patrick Aboagye on his part, noted that the early stages in the life of every child was essential to the growth of the child.

He identified risk factors such as poverty, maternal depression, family stress, violence and child maltreatment as impediments to the development of the child.

The Nurturing Care Framework for Early Childhood Development is a framework for helping children survive and thrive to transform health and human potentials.

It also provides an evidence-based roadmap for action and outlines how polices and services can support parent, families, caregivers and communities in providing and nurturing care for young children.

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