Stakeholders urged to assist government to meet MDG on maternal health

Funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development, MamaYe focuses on using a strategic combination of evidence, advocacy and accountability to save lives.

In Ghana, the programme would be rolled out across four regions by the School of Public Health, University of Ghana, (UG) and the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights, until 2016.The regions are Greater Accra, Volta, Ashanti and Upper West.

Ms Ayittey said in Ghana, programmes by the Ministry of Health, including the MDG Accelerated Framework (MAF), High Impact Rapid Delivery (HIRD), Safe Motherhood, the free maternal health care initiative, sought to position Ghana on track to achieving MDGs 4 and 5.

“These programmes have culminated in gains in health delivery in Ghana. There have been increases in the number of functional CHPS zones across all the regions. Implementation of functional CHPS has doubled from 868 in 2009 to 1,675 in 2011 coupled with a correlated increase in the umber of community health officers,” she said.

However, Ms Ayittey expressed doubt about the possibility of the country achieving the MDGs, added that “although maternal mortality ratios have also seen some improvement, currently estimated at 350/100,000 live births, it is unlikely that Ghana will achieve the MDG target of 185/100,000 by 2015.”

The Executive Director of MamaYe Ghana Campaign, Ms Vicky T Okin, in her welcome address, said the programme would facilitate stronger relationships between communities, clients and healthcare providers, and the better use of evidence to inform decision-making at all levels.

“MamaYe is a social movement. It is a campaign for us all to change fatalism to hope, helplessness to action, and best-guesses into hard facts,” she said.

Launching the campaign, the Executive Director of Salt and Light Ministry, Ms Joyce Aryee, called on government agencies and ministries to coordinate and work effectively together to ensure quality growth and development in the country.

She said it was the responsibility of every Ghanaian to ensure that maternal mortality was reduced and stressed that “we cannot wait and depend so much on the government to act before we do.”

Story by Dominic Moses Awiah