Accra, Jan. 14, GNA - The Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health has urged government to demonstrate the political will in providing resources to address issues of maternal and neo-natal mortalities, which were beyond cases of health institutions.

It said the issue of 53 per cent of births that were undertaken without skilled care should be addressed, adding, "Neo-natal mortality should be the focus of government as it had been identified as the driving force in the increasing child mortality rates".

Briefing the media on Wednesday in Accra on the outcome of a health forum held for civil society organizations last year on the theme: "Civil Society Organizations in Partnership to Promote Health", Ms Cecelia Lodonu-Senoo, on behalf of the Coalition said though some interventions had been made by government to improve the health status of Ghanaians, there were much more to be done.

"The Ministry of Health should take a critical look at the role of family planning and adolescent sexual reproductive health play in reducing maternal mortality and ensuring child and maternal health", she added. The Coalition, an advocacy civil society group in the area of health, said access and availability of services directed at HIV and AIDS should focus on addressing issues of stigmatization, cost and other socio-economic barriers, which limited individuals to access services. It called on government to consider the option of covering the cost of transportation in the instance of referrals of Persons Living with HIV and AIDS and include Anti Retroviral Therapy in the list of drugs under the National Health Insurance Scheme. It also called for the enhancement of partnership by government with civil society organizations to help check full compliance of government policies guidelines on access to and use of medicines. The Coalition called for an effective and efficient pharmaco-vigilance system that would engage all stakeholders from the private and public sectors in decision making on the monitoring and evaluation of medicines. The National Population Policy, the Coalition said, should be translated in strategic programmes and interventions to ensure that population issues were given the needed attention in national development. Government should therefore engage the civil society organizations in information, education and communication interventions aimed at behavioural change within communities as well as the academic institutions. The Coalition urged government to allocate adequate resources for the purposes of monitoring and evaluation of all health issues to ensure timely and accurate data for planning, forecasting and progress in the health sector. It affirmed its commitment of efficiently and effectively engaging political leadership in ensuring that national policies and programmes affecting the health of the people were implemented for the benefit of all. 14 Jan. 09