Six thousand, three hundred and thirty-two pregnant women have registered under the Free Maternal Health Care (FMHC) Policy in the Upper West Region. The policy was introduced on July 1, this year to reduce maternal and child death rate and help achieve the millennium development goal on improving maternal health. Mr John Bosco Zury, Upper West Regional Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority announced this at the fourth annual general meeting of the Lawra District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme at Lawra. He appealed to husbands to encourage their pregnant wives and sisters to take advantage of the policy. He said a total of 529,514 insured clients had attended out-patient service at a cost of 2,326,645 Ghana cedis, representing a regional coverage cost of 4.39 Ghana cedis. Mr Zury said 39,070 patients were also admitted at the hospitals and other health centres at a cost of 1,121,422 Ghana cedis, representing a regional average cost of 28.70 Ghana cedis. The regional coverage of identity cards issued to clients stood at 83.75 per cent. Mr. Zury said the Lawra scheme recorded a membership of 62,375, representing 62.27 per cent coverage and ranking fourth in the region. He said however that the rate of renewal within the scheme was a potential threat for sustainability. The delay in the flow of funds from headquarters in Accra and the lack of operational manual were challenges facing the smooth implementation of the scheme. Mr. Zury said the failure of regional hospitals to separate out-patient department charges from regional hospital tariffs under the new tariffs regime was also a threat to the sustainability of the scheme. Source: GNA