Two-year maternal health project launched in Koforidua
Ms. Mavis Amma Frimpong, Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, on Friday launched a Maternal Health Improvement Project in Koforidua.
The project, a brainchild of Socioserve-Ghana, a non-governmental organization, titled: “Mobilizing Community Action towards Maternal Health improvement (MOCAMI)”, is aimed at promoting community involvement in the assessment of the performance of selected health facilities and providers in the delivery of maternal health services.
Ms. Frimpong noted that Ghana has made slow progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 5, which seeks to improve Maternal Health and reduce maternal deaths by two-thirds (75 per cent).
“This has become of utmost concern to the government because we are committed to making sure that Ghanaian women do not die as a result of pregnancy, and that all women have the right to access reproductive health services”.
Ms Frimpong said the government had supported the development and implementation of the Millennium Development Goal Acceleration Framework and Country Action Plan.
She said: “At the health facility level, emphasis is placed on the creation of enabling environment, including equipment and supplies, for well-trained professionals to attend to pregnancy, childbirth and the new born”.
Ms Frimpong said that maternal health was not the business of only health workers, but everybody-government, Donor Agencies, health professionals, families and the entire community.
Mrs. Josephine Sackey, Chief Executive Officer of Socioserve-Ghana, said “when we became aware of the increasing numbers of maternal deaths in the region, Socioserve-Ghana as an organization began to think of how we could help and we learnt that improving maternal health care will ultimately result in a reduction of maternal deaths.
“We must contribute to efforts at accelerating Ghana’s achievement of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) four and five”.
Mr. John Obuaba of Socioserve-Ghana said the project would be implemented in the Asuogyaman District, Lower Manya Krobo, Kwahu West, Kwaebibirem and Birim Central Municipalities.
Mr. Obuaba said the two-year project would be funded by Star-Ghana with support from UKaid, EU, DANIDA and USAID.
He said the project would cover cases on family planning, antenatal, post-natal, skilled delivery, abortions, emergency obstetric and newborn babies.
Source: GNA