A condition that is common and manageable becomes life-threatening when care is delayed
In Ghana's Volta Region, a condition that medicine knows how to cure is still claiming the lives and futures of newborns — not because the tools are absent, but because the knowledge has not yet reached every family in time. Ho Teaching Hospital is confronting the quiet tragedy of neonatal jaundice: common, visible, and treatable, yet capable of causing permanent brain damage or death when parents do not know what they are seeing or how urgently it demands care. The hospital's pediatricians are now turning outward, toward communities, toward expectant parents, toward the critical hours after birth — because the window in which a child can be saved is narrow, and awareness is the first medicine.
- Neonatal jaundice is filling pediatric wards at Ho Teaching Hospital, making it one of the leading causes of infant admissions in the Volta Region.
- The danger is not the condition itself but the clock — bilirubin that goes untreated crosses into brain tissue, causing irreversible neurological damage or death in newborns who could have been saved.
- Many families do not recognize the warning signs — yellowing eyes and skin, poor feeding, unusual drowsiness, or strange bodily weakness — or believe the symptoms will resolve without medical intervention.
- Traditional remedies and limited healthcare access are delaying the hospital visits that would make the difference between a healthy child and a permanently harmed one.
- Ho Teaching Hospital is now intensifying public education campaigns targeting parents and caregivers before and immediately after birth, treating awareness itself as a form of medicine.
At Ho Teaching Hospital in Ghana's Volta Region, pediatricians are watching a preventable crisis unfold. Neonatal jaundice — the yellowing of skin and eyes that appears in many newborns during their first weeks of life — has become one of the leading reasons families bring infants to the children's ward. The condition is not rare. What makes it dangerous is delay.
Dr. Selorm Tsrakasu, who heads the hospital's Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, spoke publicly about the problem in late May 2026 with a direct message: jaundice is manageable, but when treatment comes too late, it can permanently damage a child's brain or end their life. The warning signs are visible — yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, a baby who struggles to feed, unusual drowsiness, or strange weakness. These are not symptoms to wait out or treat at home. They are medical emergencies.
When bilirubin accumulates unchecked, it can cross into brain tissue. The damage that follows is often irreversible. Children suffer permanent neurological injury. Some do not survive. Yet nearly all of it is preventable. The tools and knowledge exist. What is missing, in too many cases, is awareness.
Many families in the region do not know what neonatal jaundice looks like, do not understand it requires urgent medical attention, or lack easy access to care. Some rely on traditional healers. Others assume the yellowing will fade. The hospital is working to change that — reaching parents before their babies are born and in those critical first days after delivery.
The campaign ahead centers on recognition and action: teaching parents what to look for, helping them understand that a sleepy or poorly feeding baby needs a doctor, and making clear where to go when the signs appear. In a region where healthcare access is uneven and traditional beliefs about newborn care remain strong, that education is as much a part of treatment as the phototherapy lights and blood transfusions waiting inside the hospital.
At Ho Teaching Hospital in Ghana's Volta Region, pediatricians are watching a preventable crisis unfold in real time. Neonatal jaundice—a yellowing of the skin and eyes that appears in many newborns during their first weeks of life—has become one of the leading reasons families bring their infants to the hospital's children's ward. The condition itself is not rare. What makes it dangerous is what happens when treatment arrives too late.
Dr. Selorm Tsrakasu, who heads the hospital's Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, spoke publicly about the problem on Sunday, May 24, 2026. His message was direct: the condition is common and manageable, but delay transforms it into something that can permanently damage a child's brain or end their life. He has seen it happen. The hospital's doctors are now pushing harder to educate parents and caregivers about what to watch for and when to seek help, because the window for safe intervention is narrow.
The warning signs are visible to anyone caring for a newborn. Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes is the most obvious one. But there are others: a baby who struggles to feed, who seems unusually drowsy, who displays an odd weakness in the body. These symptoms should send a parent or caregiver directly to a hospital or clinic. They are not things to wait out, not things to treat at home with folk remedies or prayer alone. They are medical emergencies.
What happens if treatment is delayed? The bilirubin—the substance that causes the yellowing—continues to accumulate in the bloodstream and can cross into the brain tissue. Once that happens, the damage is often irreversible. Children can suffer permanent neurological injury. Some do not survive. Yet this outcome is almost entirely preventable. Early detection and prompt treatment work. The tools exist. The knowledge exists. What is missing, in many cases, is awareness.
Dr. Tsrakasu's push for intensified public education reflects a hard reality: many families in the Volta Region and beyond do not know what neonatal jaundice looks like, do not understand that it requires medical attention, or do not have easy access to care when they do recognize the signs. Some may rely on traditional healers or home remedies. Others may assume the yellowing will fade on its own. The hospital is trying to change that calculus by reaching parents before their babies are born and in those critical first days after delivery.
The stakes are not abstract. Every admission to the pediatric ward represents a family that either caught the condition in time or did not. Every case of brain damage that could have been prevented is a child whose life has been fundamentally altered, and a family bearing that weight. The hospital's doctors are not simply treating patients; they are trying to prevent a category of harm that should not exist in a world with modern medicine.
The campaign ahead will focus on recognition and action. Parents need to know what to look for. They need to know that yellowing is not always normal and not always harmless. They need to understand that a sleepy baby or a baby who will not feed is a baby who needs a doctor, not more time at home. And they need to know where to go when those signs appear. In a region where healthcare access is uneven and where traditional beliefs about newborn care remain strong, that education work is as much a part of treatment as the phototherapy lights and blood transfusions that save lives in the hospital itself.
Citas Notables
Neonatal jaundice is common and treatable, but can become life-threatening if care is delayed— Dr. Selorm Tsrakasu, Head of Paediatrics and Child Health, Ho Teaching Hospital
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why is neonatal jaundice such a persistent problem if it's so treatable?
Because treatment requires getting to a hospital quickly, and many families don't recognize the danger signs. A baby who looks a bit yellow might seem fine to someone who's never seen the condition before. By the time they realize something is wrong, days have passed.
What exactly happens to the brain when treatment is delayed?
The bilirubin—the pigment causing the yellowing—builds up in the blood and crosses into brain tissue. Once it's there, it causes permanent damage to nerve cells. The child might have cerebral palsy, hearing loss, or intellectual disability for life.
So this is a problem of knowledge, not resources?
It's both. The hospital has the equipment to treat jaundice. But if families don't bring their babies in, or bring them too late, the equipment doesn't matter. The real barrier is that people don't know what they're looking at.
What would change the situation most quickly?
Getting information to mothers before they leave the hospital after birth. Teaching them the specific signs—not just yellowing, but poor feeding and unusual sleepiness. Making it clear that these are emergencies, not things to watch and wait on.
Is this a problem everywhere, or specific to this region?
It's worse in places with less healthcare access and where traditional practices still guide newborn care. The Volta Region has both of those factors. But the hospital's doctors see it as preventable, which is why they're pushing so hard on education now.