The Deputy Director of the Department for Reproductive and Child Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye says a multi-faceted approach is needed to curtail the incidence of maternal mortality in the country. Ghana is said to have reduced maternal mortality by 42 percent since the 1990s, but that is 33 percent shy of the Millennium Development Goal [MDG] 5 target of 75 percent. Speaking on Multi TV’s current affairs show, pm: EXPRESS, Dr. Kuma-Aboagye said even though the current advancement vis-a-vis the MDG target may not be encouraging, Ghana can still meet the MDG target before the 2015 deadline “if we do something extra.” “On the basis of the trends for this year and last year, if you follow that trend we will not meet the MDGs. But we’ve seen actions and we’ve seen countries that have made very dramatic declines in very short times and we believe we can also do that,” he said. Dr. Kuma-Aboagye conceded that one of the contributory factors to maternal mortality is the inadequate human resource personnel. He was however worried that most women do not make use of maternal health services, a situation he described as worrying. “There are issues on the supply side and the supply side is about the doctors, the nurses and availability of facility. But we also have the issue of the demand side where despite all these problems, a significant proportion of our women are still not using maternal health services which is considered the best in terms of saving lives. So it is both ways, we still need midwives, we need a lot more doctors than we have.” Dr. Kuma-Aboagye stressed the need to ensure that the “health seeking behaviour” of women is improved and “that nearly every woman is delivering at a health facility.” This approach, he noted, will help in reducing the incidence of maternal mortality as is evident in “all countries where we have more than 90 or 100 percent delivering with a skilled person or doctor, maternal mortality is down. It is where people use all other means to deliver and then when they get into complications, then you’re racing against time.” The Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Dodowa District Hospital, Dr. Kennedy Brightson who joined the discussion via phone, said a conscious level of commitment from Doctors and Nurses to help pregnant women will go a long way to save the lives of women during childbirth. “The problem with maternal health is a universal one,” Dr. Brightson noted, adding that “a lot of woman have been saved because they went to the labour ward.” He called for an all-hands-on-deck approach in dealing with the situation, cautioning that “if we always think of increasing the number of Doctors, Nurses, I’m afraid we may be hitting below the belt. It is the commitment from individual Doctors to make a conscious effort to go the extra mile, that will save the women,” he stressed.