Second Lady Concerned About New Born Mortality

Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur, wife of vice president has expressed concern about the increasing newborn mortality rate (NMR) in the country and called for concerted efforts by the general public to deal with the issue.

According to her available statistics from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicated that at least 320 out of 1,000 children under five years, died annually, and out of the figure, 120 were newborn.

Mrs Amissah-Arthur was speaking at the launch of "Helping Babies Breathe (HBB)" programme for trainees in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.

The HBB is an initiative by the Newmont Mining Company aimed at providing skilled training to birth attendants and other healthcare practitioners to equip them with the techniques of dealing with birth asphyxia, which occurs when babies do not breathe at birth due to trauma, and fatigue during labour.

The programme is being implemented by the company, in collaboration with Project CURE, a United States non-governmental organisation, in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Four, which relates to reducing child mortality.