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President justifies 10% salary cut and challenges others to do same

President John Dramani Mahama has justified the decision of the Executive to cut their salaries by 10 per cent to support health care delivery, especially in rural areas, and challenged others to follow the example.

 

He said if all public sector employees followed the example and gave just two per cent of their salaries to build Community Health Programme and Service (CHPS) compounds, “we’ll be able to build 2,000 CHIPS compounds across the country”.


Launching the Campaign for Accelerated Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) and the Newborn Health Week celebration accountability report in Accra last Saturday, President Mahama urged others to follow the initiative by the government, instead of criticising it.


The CARMMA accountability report, entitled, "Rising to Meet the Challenge of Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Ghana", captures the achievable commitments from 10 regions and 175 districts in the country to reduce maternal mortality.


The theme for the launch is: "No woman should die giving life: The role of local authorities".


Presenting the 2014 budget to Parliament on November 19, the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper had announced the 10 per cent pay cut in the salaries of all members of the Executive, including the President and his vice. 


The initiative has, however, been described as a public relations gimmick by some political opponents. 

 

CARMMA

The  CARMMA is an African Union (AU) initiative to promote and advocate for the renewed and intensified implementation of the Maputo Plan of Action for Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa.


The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with support from bilateral donors, has been the driving force behind CARMMA, pushing for its adoption and implementation at global, regional and national levels.


The CARMMA was accepted in Ghana and launched at the national level by a former First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, in Koforidua in 2009. 

She championed its implementation in all the regions.


More resources

President Mahama pledged his commitment to allocate more resources to build more healthcare centres and train more midwives to ensure the delivery of timely and efficient health care to pregnant women.


That, he said, was to guarantee a drastic reduction in the rate of maternal mortality in the country, since "any death is a death too many".


For instance, he said, the amount that would accrue from the 10 per cent cut in his salary and those of the Vice-President, ministers of state and other government appointees, would be used to build 1,600  compounds by 2016.


President Mahama challenged metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) to take special interest in initiating and supporting efforts at reducing the rate of maternal mortality in their respective areas.


He said the continued stay in office and renewal of the mandate of MMDCEs would depend on their ability to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in their respective areas. 


He said the decision to index the performance of MMDCEs to the reduction of maternal mortality was consistent with the determination of the government to reduce the high incidence of child and maternal mortality to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 


The President said the current national figure of 320 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births was unacceptable.


That was because the national figure was higher than the United Nations standard figure of 187 out of every 100,000 births.


He explained that the policy to index the performance of MMDCEs to the reduction of maternal deaths was intended to commit them to own all health facilities and commit their finances to ensure quality health delivery services, particularly in the rural areas.

 

Preserve the lives of women

President Mahama said Ghana had made remarkable progress in the other targets under the MDGs but indicated that it was trailing in achieving the target of significant reduction in the rate of maternal mortality.


He mentioned the absence of healthcare facilities and the lack of trained midwives and nurses as the main causes of maternal mortality in the country.


For instance, he said during one of his visits when he was the Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi, he came across a woman who had been in labour for two days.


President Mahama said he used his car as an ambulance to transport the woman to a health care, from where they were referred to the Bole Hospital.


He said the woman was finally transported to the Wa Hospital and indicated that she survived but the baby did not.

 

Congratulations

The President lauded Mrs Naadu Mills for going round all the 10 regions to launch the CARMMA.


He again thanked the Japanese government for buying into the vision of reducing maternal mortality by building some CHPS compounds in the Upper West Region.


The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, affirmed the commitment of MMDCEs to continue to support the efforts towards reducing the death of mothers during delivery.


The UNFPA Resident Coordinator, Dr Bernard Coquelin, said maternal mortality was a developmental issue which required the participation of all stakeholders.


He reassured Ghana of the UNFPA's readiness to continue to support efforts at reducing the rate of maternal mortality in the country.


A professor at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana, Prof Takyiwa Manu, who chaired the function, called for a collaborative effort among the government, healthcare providers and civil society organisations to eliminate or reduce the rate of maternal mortality in the country.


"No woman should die from childbirth, but the statistics tell otherwise," she said.


 Mrs Mills and Dr Coquelin were honoured for their support in the reduction of maternal mortality in the country.

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