Achiaman (Greater Accra) 9 April '99

Mr Jerry Nii Akwei Thomson, Ga District Chief Executive, said on Friday that inequality between men and women is a barrier to attaining a high standard of health for women. Equality means the sharing of family responsibility, among others, he said at a day's workshop on the enhancement of rural women, organised for 40 women drawn from more than 30 villages within the Ga district. The workshop was organised by the Advancement of Rural Women, an NGO championing the cause of rural women in collaboration with the National Commission on Women and Development (NCWD). It was on the theme: "Technical Skills Development and Economic Self-Reliance". It forms part of activities to celebrate International Women's Day, which fell on March 8. The women were taken through topics such the holistic nature of women's health, farm management, proper book keeping and family planning. Mr Thomson said it has been observed that women have low access to health care systems and services relative to men, a fact which, he recalled, received serious attention at the 1985 Nairobi conference on women.