Women groups in Upper East Region at the weekend undertook a peaceful march in Bolgatanga to ask government to put in place pragmatic measures to address maternal and infant mortality in the country.

A communiqué the women submitted to the Political head of the Region and read by their spokesperson, Ms Regina Akapule, said maternal mortality is rising in the area, hence the need for government to be proactive by ensuring that it prioritises universal health coverage to improve health services to Ghanaians.

The women expressed dissatisfaction about the inability of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cater for the needs of all persons particularly the vulnerable in the society and called on the Ministry of Health to liaise with the Ministry of Finance to release funds for the scheme.

The Communiqué asked the Health Ministry to improve on access to health by women and ensure at least each district get’s a medical doctor.

The women called effective monitoring and utilisation of health budget allocation and total commitment on the part of government and other stakeholders to effectively work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6.

The out-going Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed Muniru, said the concerns of the women were genuine and assured them of handing it to the President for redress.

The universal access to healthcare campaign, a national health campaign is driven by a network of local and international NGOs including the Coalition of NGOs in Health, Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights, Integrated Social Development Centre, SEND Ghana and Essential Service Platform.

Some of the placards the women carried read: “Women are against Pregnancy related deaths,” “Universal Healthcare Creating Wealth through Health,” “Basic Health is Our Right,” “Mr President prioritise universal healthcare to guarantee access to healthcare for all.”