Accra, May 21, GNA - The Ministry of Health has initiated action to secure technical assistance from the Galilee Institute in Israel to train about 40 midwives as trainers in midwifery and also send selected final year students for practical attachment. Mr Abraham Odoom, Deputy Minister of Health, announced this on Wednesday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding under which the UK would commit 42.5 million pounds to support the Ghana's efforts at providing affordable and accessible health care for Ghanaians. He said currently, there were about 2,800 midwives in the country and about 60 per cent of them would retire in the next two years adding that "there is the need to replace the outgoing ones". Mr Odoom said the ministry had also increased intake in midwifery training institutions in the last two years and measures had been instituted to address the problem of maternal mortality. He said the assistance would enable the Ministry to implement its priority programmes, one of which was the free maternity health care for all pregnant women, to meet the health-related MDGs. "The grant is therefore a timely intervention and we are grateful to the British Government."

The UK Government currently provides around 80 million pounds annually to Ghana to implement its Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRSII). 21 May 08