A gender activist has expressed worry that despite government’s efforts at improving health care delivery in the country, some communities in the country, especially those in rural areas, continued to experience maternal mortality. Mrs. Vera Quaye, the Acting Executive Director of Centre for Community Studies, Action and Development (CENCOSAD), a non-governmental organisation in Accra, reminded Ghanaians that the most important asset of every country was its citizens, and called for intensification in awareness campaigns on maternal mortality to prevent maternal deaths. She observed that delays in taking decision to send distressed pregnant women to the hospital as well as difficulty in transporting such women to the facility resulted in deaths. Mrs Quaye was speaking at a two-day life saving skills training workshop, organised by CENCOSAD working in partnership with the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights Project (ARHRP), on Saturday in Cape Coast. It was attended by project officers of ARHRP southern zone partner organizations and CENCOSAD as well as nurses supporting the Project. The workshop was aimed at updating the knowledge of the nurses and staff of implementing partners on basic life saving skills for pregnant women and their infants and to reinforce the roles of community level structures in saving lives of expectant mothers and their infants. Mrs Quaye called for increased education of the people towards reducing community level factors that contributed to maternal mortality. She said the ARHRP sought as part of its mandate, the promotion of sexual and reproductive health rights of the youth, the disadvantaged and vulnerable and women of reproductive age. Mrs. Quaye called on participants to support the Project in sensitizing people in their various communities on sexual and reproductive health rights issues. She said this would help empower people to demand increased access to responsive, timely and accountable sexual and reproductive health services and information. Mrs. Quaye said the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) and Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) were undertaking similar activities in the middle and northern zones of the country. She stated that in seeking to increase access of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups to sexual and reproductive health services, partners of ARHRP were working with community health nurses in providing reproductive health rights information and services in participating districts. The partner organizations included, Muslim Relief Association of Ghana (MURAG), Central and Western Region Fishmongers Association (CEWEFIA) Ghana Organization for Volunteer Assistance, (GOVA), Pro-Link Organization, Ashiedu Keteke community based organizations, Rural Water and Sanitation Promotional Services and Life Relief Foundation. Mrs. Anna Agbotui, an official of the Western Regional Health Services, and Dr. Linda Vanotoo, the Acting Western Regional Director of Ghana Health Service, resource persons for the workshop, educated participants on a number of issues. These included pregnancy signs and symptoms, risky signs associated with pregnancy, importance of antenatal and postnatal services, anaemia, safe delivery and preparations towards delivery. They were also sensitised on family planning, infant care, importance of child welfare clinics, malaria prevention during pregnancy and control of vitamin A deficiency in infants, Other issues discussed were infant growth monitoring and promotion, importance of immunization, community participation and male involvement in sexual and reproductive health matters. Source: GNA