Deliveries at health centres low

Dr Kweku Agyemang- Mensah, Minister of Health on Tuesday said although more than 90 percent of pregnant women visit health centres for ante natal care, less than 60 percent patronise these facilities during delivery.

This, he said, is one of the main reasons for exposing women to the complications of delivery which sometimes leads to the death of the mother, the child or both.

Dr Agyemang- Mensah made this known in a speech read on his behalf during a presentation of a communique by the Mamaye Advocacy Coalition and the Universal Access to Healthcare Campaign after a street march to draw attention to such critical issues that must be addressed as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) draw close in 500 days time.

The Ministry of Health was presented with a 10-Action Point document, which enumerated actions that the Ministry and its allied institutions could take to address the challenges stalling the realisation of MDG 4,5 and 6 which emphasises Reducing Child Mortality, Improving Maternal Health and Combating HIV and AIDS Infections, Malaria and other Diseases.

He said although as a middle lower income country, government have challenges in providing the needed resources to address the health needs of the people, with its development partners there have been an increase in the number of health facilities nationwide.

Some of the issues raised in the 10- Action-Point communique presented by the two health NGOs called for the prioritisation of the health sector in the socio-political discourse to strengthen the policy and legal framework for maternal, newborn and primary healthcare services.

They also called for increased financial commitment to the health sector with sufficient legislative focus onMDG 4, 5 and 6, strengthening the monitoring and evaluation units of the Ministry of Health (MOH) to adequately function, reinforce the structures of the National Health Insurance Scheme to ensure that the poor could also access health care by getting rid of the cash and carry syndrome.

The communique also called for the availability of essential life-saving drugs such as anti retroviral drugs and vaccines, support for civil society organisations to monitor and hold state institutions accountable in the discharge of their duties and also liaise with the Ministry of Transport to substantially invest in regional and district transportation and power networks to increase access to primary healthcare.

The communique which was presented by Dereck Adogla, Communications Manager of Universal Access to Healthcare and was received by Madam Salimata Abdul-Salam, Chief Director of MOH on behalf of the Minister.