Akim-Oda (E/R), Feb. 20, GNA - Major Courage Quashigah (RTD), the Minister of Health, has said the country could not develop its life expectancy of 57 years when 68 out of every 1,000 births die before their first anniversary.

He said if people lead healthy lives, they could save a lot of money that otherwise they would use for curing themselves when they fall sick.

Major Quashigah was speaking at the opening of a one-week training of trainers workshop on regenerative health and nutrition programme for 80 participants at Akim Oda on Monday. School prefects from second cycles schools, matrons of schools, assembly members, health workers and heads of departments of the Birim South District Assembly are attending.

The training programme, which includes community sensitization, had resource persons from the African Hebrew Development Agency of Israel.

He said despite the importance of health to the development of the society, there was nothing in the school curriculum to make children learn more about their health and how to live a more healthy life. Maj. Quarshigah said despite the fact that the regenerative health and nutrition programme could contribute a lot to the development of the country, some of the things that needed to be done falls outside his ministry and sited issues like the provision of good drinking water and good sanitation.

The Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyirah, said many of the diseases facing Ghanaians were lifestyle related and urged health staff to realign themselves with the paradigm shift of the Ministry of Health from curative to preventive medicine.

The Birim South District Director of Health Service, Dr Yaw Otchere, said the district recorded 20 maternal deaths in 2006 and by mid February this year, the district had recorded 8 deaths. He said currently the problem facing the district was that many of the pregnant women even die before their ninth month. The leader of the African Hebrew Development Agency team, Mr Prince Immanuel Ben-Yehuda, said most of the diseases that affect Ghanaians were preventable and could be solved by a change in day-to-day lifestyle.

Mr Ben-Yehuda said similar training programmes had been organized in Asikuma-Odobin-Brakwa, Amasaman and the next town would be Hohoe in the Volta Region. He said Ghana was the only country that had adopted the programme as a national policy but some countries like South Africa had sent delegations to study the system in Dimona, Isreal.