The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Director in-charge of Public Health, Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, has stated there will be the need to tackle unsafe abortion, teenage pregnancy and reduce maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015, for Ghana to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5.

He explained that, statistics available indicate unsafe abortion was the second leading cause of maternal mortality in Ghana, accounting for 15 percent of maternal deaths.

It also accounted for 25 to 30 percent of maternal deaths in teaching hospitals in the country.

This, he said impeded the country’s efforts at achieving the MDG 5 which primarily aimed at reducing maternal mortality by 75 percent by year 2015.

Dr Tinkorang made this known at the Inception Meeting organized by the Brong Ahafo Regional Chapter of the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health to officially launch the MDGs Accelerated Framework (MAF) Accountability Project in the region.

The Coalition with support from STAR Ghana, a multi-donor agency funded by USAID, European Union, DANIDA and UKaid is implementing MAF Accountability Project in 30 Districts across the country to monitor the implementation of MAF National, Regional and Districts Plans.

In the Brong Ahafo, three organizations are responsible for monitoring the project in three districts namely, Sunyani Municipal, Tano South and Jaman North Districts in the region.

Dr Tinkorang also identified high unsafe abortion rate, high teenage pregnancy and low family planning acceptor rate as some of the major challenges facing reproductive health in the region.

He mentioned inadequate partners to support reproductive health services and inadequate access to adolescent health services in the region as further challenges facing reproductive health.

The Deputy Regional Director therefore extended hands of partnership to organizations and institutions especially CSO’s to partner with the health directorate to seriously tackle reproductive health in the region.

The Brong-Ahafo Co-ordinator of the Ghana Coalition of NGO’s in Health, Kobina Afena-Sam, said the main objective of the MAF Accountability Project was to ensure that resources allocated by Development Partners and Ghana Government are judiciously used.

He appealed to the District Health Directors to open-up and be ready to provide information needed to ensure effective monitoring of the project.