Koforidua, May 20, GNA - The Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) has received nine mobile libraries to be distributed to the regions and districts for nurses, especially those working in rural areas, to access current information on the health system. The library project is being jointly funded by Merck and Company Incorporated of Germany and Elservier, a local publishing company. This was announced by the Eastern Regional Chairperson of the GRNA, Ms Mary Acheampong, at the launch of the Regional Nurses Week celebrations on Thursday at Koforidua. It was on the theme: "Nurses working with the poor against poverty".

She said the aim of this year's International Nurses Week was to increase awareness about the links between poverty and health and the important role of the nurse in the country's poverty eradication strategy.

Ms Acheampong said the fact that health workers were themselves poor, as well as the incidence of absenteeism and poor quality of service was a contributing factor to poor health delivery in the country.

She said an average of 56 infants out of every 1,000 live births die before reaching one year while one in nine children die before reaching the age five. "Mothers continue to die in childbirth from preventable causes," she added.

Ms Acheampong stressed the need for collaboration between nurses, policy makers and development groups to put health on the poverty agenda.

Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Gustarv Narh Domertey, appealed to the nurses to accept postings to the remote areas where their services were most needed to improve on the healthcare for the rural communities.

He noted that the GRNA could not have chosen any appropriate theme for their celebration this year other than identifying themselves as partners in the government's poverty eradication strategies and called on them to rededicate themselves to the fight against the challenges. The Medical Superintendent of the Koforidua Regional Hospital, Dr Obeng Apori, called on the nurses to work assiduously to maintain the health of the nation, which he said was not best.

He said the Week should not be a mere celebration, but nurses should use the occasion for a reflection of their performances over the year and see how gentle and responsive they had been towards their clients.