Ardingly Old Jeshwang Association
The Association aims to implement the World Health Organization (WHO) Mother-Baby Package for safe motherhood in Old Jeshwang and Kanifing Municipal Council with the hope that it will be adopted by the whole of The Gambia in due course. The Mother-Baby Package is based on a number of underlying principles, which are intrinsic elements of primary health care. These are:
• Interventions must be based on the best scientific information available and must use only those methods that have been scientifically demonstrated to be valid.
• There must be equity in access to care for all, including the poor and disadvantaged.
• Services should be provided at the lowest level of the health care system capable of performing them adequately.
• Resources, both human and material, must not be concentrated at the apex of the health care system but must be redistributed to the periphery and to the communities where people live (decentralization).
• There should be delegation of responsibility and of authority, coupled with supportive supervision.
• Quality of care is as important as access to care and implies the existence of the skills and equipment that are necessary, as well as client-provider relationships that are appropriate.
• There should be appropriate use of technologies, avoiding high-technology interventions when equally effective alternatives are available.
• Communities should be involved in developing, implementing and evaluating the services that are provided for them.
• Health care providers should work together in a spirit of teamwork and collaboration.
• Health interventions must be cost-effective and sustainable.