The Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC) has launched a Society Advisory Group (SAG) as part of the Healthy Mothers and Babies (HeMAB) project in northern Ghana.
The initiative marks a step toward co-creating climate and health adaptation strategies that address the unique needs of pregnant women and mothers in heat-stressed communities within the sub-region.
The HeMAB project titled “Healthy Mamas and Babies: Implementing and Evaluating a Heat Adaptation Strategy for Pregnant Women in Rural Northern Ghana” is a collaborative effort involving NHRC and led by international research partners, including Prof. Dr. Manuela De Allegri from the Heidelberg UniversityProfDr. Eva Kantelhardt, Prof. James Akazili, Prof. Gilbert Abiiro, and Dr. Kavita Singh, among others. The study seeks to co-design, implement, and evaluate gender-transformative heat adaptation strategies that safeguard maternal and newborn health in the Kassena-Nankana Districts.
The director of NHRC, Dr. Patrick Ansah, speaking at the workshop stressed on the need to adopt innovative strategies to ensure healthier lives for mothers and their newborns stating that these innovations can drive the target towards achieving zero maternal and neonatal mortality. He urged the newly formed SAG to contribute valuably to generate ideas for the design of the HEMAB interventions.
Dr. Patrick Ansah – Director, Navrongo Health Research Centre, delivering his welcome remarks
Membership of the SAG includes pregnant women, mothers, health workers, queen mothers, religious leaders, NGOs, and assemblymembers from the local government . The SAG provides an inclusive space where participants can share experiences and ideas about the challenges of heat exposure, health risks, and practical solutions. Beyond dialogue, the SAG will directly inform the design of heat intervention kits, which will later be tested for their impact on outcomes such as birthweight and maternal wellbeing.
According to Daniel Azongo, the project coordinator at NHRC, the SAG plays a central role in ensuring that community voices shape public health innovations. Insights generated through these discussions will feed into broader policy dialogue platforms (Round Tables), linking grassroots perspectives with health systems and regional heat action planning.
The project coordinator of the HEMAB project, Mr. Daniel Azongo, making a presentation to the SAG during the workshop
Speaking at the workshop, the project consultant, Aaron Kampim stated that the SAG is not just a meeting but a transformative process that values local wisdom as a key component of scientific innovation. By integrating social learning and participatory design, HeMAB aims to enhance both the relevance and sustainability of climate-health interventions for women and their babies.
As climate change continues to intensify heat exposure across Sub-Saharan Africa, initiatives like HeMAB and the SAG underscore NHRC’s commitment to advancing evidence-based, community-led responses that protect the most vulnerable especially mothers and newborns from emerging environmental health threats.