Hohoe (V/R), May 4, GNA - Dr Elias Sory, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has revealed that the service in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) are negotiating with some universities to design degree and advanced courses in midwifery. He asserted that the absence of such courses had hampered particularly, the academic progression of enrolled nurse midwives. Dr Sory, said this at the national launch of the International Day of the Midwife, in Hohoe in the Volta Region, on the theme: "The World Needs Midwives Now More Than Ever."

He noted that failure of policy direction was responsible for the mishap in the training regimes of the sector. Dr Sory said the policies and focus of MOH was being reviewed and called on stakeholders to assist in overcoming the challenges. He said the GHS would press for the supply of state-of-the art midwifery kits to graduating midwives, explaining that the practice had received thumb-ups from development partners. Dr Sory entreated the Nurses and Midwives Council and the Ghana Registered Midwives Association to be proactive in charting a new regime for midwifery practice.

He said a well-trained midwife was enough for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals Four and Five. Dr Benjamin Kumbour, Minister of Health said developing countries continued to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of maternal deaths, which was responsible for the 99 per cent of the 500,000 annual deaths globally.

He said one million more women suffered from debilitating injuries during pregnancy and childbirth with consequences such as uterine prolapse, obstetric fistula and infertility. Dr Kumbour said according to World Health Organisation estimates, four million children are stillborn while an additional four million fail to attain their fifth birthday.