The Japanese government has pledged its support towards the improvement of maternal health, reduction of maternal mortality  and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal five (MDG 5) in the Kwahu East District.

The MDG 5 is a call by the United Nations (UN) on developing nations to work towards the reduction of high maternal mortality in their countries by 75 percent of the figures recorded in 1990 by 2015.

Dr Toshiko Abe, the Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, made the pledge when she paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Kotoso, Nana Ampoma Gyebi, after visiting the Kotoso Reproductive Health Centre (KRHC).

The facility was constructed with funding from the Foreign Ministry of Japan.

 The facility forms part of over 1.4 million Ghana cedis Japanese government funded project.

The Centre includes the construction and equipping of four other health facilities in the District to help improve access to maternal health services in the district.

The project is being implemented by the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) and Ghana Health Service.

The three- year project is expected to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy by five percent, increase over all reproductive health services in the district by 20 percent and achieve 20 percent increase in family planning acceptance in the area.

She expressed her appreciation to the chiefs and people of Kotoso for the support they had given to the project and urged Nana Gyebi and his elders to encourage the people to patronize the facility.

Nana Ampoma Gyebi called for the extension of water supply to the facility and the provision of more housing units for the medical staff and other workers.

He said before the construction of the facility, women in labour with complications who were brought from the Islands on the Afram River by canoe often died at Kotoso.

The situation was due to absence of vehicles to quickly transport them to the nearest health facility which was about 12 kilometers away.

Mr Lucian Kowakou, Regional Director of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in-charge of Africa, urged management of the Centre to take advantage of the weekly Kotoso market to improve upon the accessibility of reproductive health services to the people in the area.

The Kwahu East District Director of Health Services, Mr Fredrick Kwame Ofosu, said the District has no District Hospital and the nearest health facility to Kotoso is 12 kilometers away and also 23 kilometers from the nearest District Hospital.

He said the facility would bring relief to the district and promised that the District Health authorities and management of the Centre would work hard to ensure the achievement and sustainability of all the targets set for the project.

The Zonal Manager of PPAG for the Middle Zone, Ms Christiana Acquah, said the project has trained 87 community health volunteers for interpersonal reproductive health promotion and referral to the reproductive health centre.

She said four Community Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) are being constructed in the district to help strengthen health services to the people in the area.

Ms Acquah said an average of 600 people access the Kotoso Reproductive Health Centre monthly.

GNA