Helping to reduce maternal mortality in Ghana
Dana Hovig shakes hands with Vice-President, Mr John Mahama
Marie Stopes International CEO Dana Hovig's recent trip to Ghana was covered by the country's most widely read newspaper, the Daily Graphic:
Marie Stopes to help reduce maternal mortality
Story: Mussah Yahaya Jafaru
The Marie Stopes International Ghana, a group working on sexual and reproductive health care, is to collaborate with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in the country.
The Chief Executive of the group, Mr Dana Hovig, and the Country Director, Mrs Faustina Fynn-Nyame, made the commitment when they called on the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.
According to Mr Hovig, one-third of women in Ghana needed family planning and contraceptives but could not afford them.
He said, for instance, that about 30,000 women died from unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions last year and appealed to the governments to increase investment in the area of family planning to enable many women to have access to contraceptives and safe abortion.
Mrs Fynn-Nyame said the group wanted to give women the choice of contraceptives by making them accessible and affordable to them.
She said the organisation was committed to reducing the rate of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions in the country.
Mr Mahama noted that family planning was an issue in the country, especially in the remote areas and assured the delegation of the government's support to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in the country.