Accra, May 21, GNA - The British Government, Ghana's biggest bilateral donor, on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ghana, committing 42.5 million pounds to support the government's efforts at providing affordable and accessible health care for Ghanaians throughout the country.

The grant facility, which would support the country's budget, would be disbursed in tranches of eight million pounds annually over the next five years from 2008 to 2012, to implement the Health Sector Programme of Work of Ghana's Health Ministry that aims to ensure a healthy and productive population in order to meet the challenges of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Ghana's Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei and Mr Michael Hammond, Country Director of UK's Department for International Development (DFID) signed the agreements in Accra on behalf both countries. Mr Hammond said both governments shared the ideals of the MDGs and the common purpose of ensuring that Ghana made progress at attaining these goals by 2015.

He said the commitment signified the strong relations between both countries, and amplified the support of UK to help Ghana meet key health indicators, particular on the MDGs on maternal and child mortality, saying that the grant would enable government to address the issue and further reduce poverty levels.

Mr. Hammond endorsed the decision by President John Agyekum Kufuor to grant free medical care to all pregnant women in Ghana, saying: "This would improve healthcare in the country. "The British Government firmly believes this action will make a significant contribution to reducing the number of women in Ghana who die unnecessarily during childbirth simply because they cannot afford to access proper medical care.

"We strongly support the President's decision and will, with our other donor colleagues, discuss with the Ministry of Health how we might assist in the process of ensuring the successful implementation of this important announcement."

Dr Osei extended Ghana's appreciation to the UK government for the gesture, saying it marked another milestone in the "ever fruitful" economic relations between the two countries.

He urged both sides to work towards improving the timing of disbursements of the support to enable the country to effectively plan and utilize "these critical inflows to Ghana's budget". "I wish to emphasize that Government is doing everything to make real progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals of reducing by three-quarters the maternal mortality ratio and reducing by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under five," he said. Deputy Health Minister, Abraham Odoom, noted that in the countdown to 2015, Ghana remained behind schedule to attain the goal to reduce child mortality and to improve maternal health. 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 (GPRS II).