Ghana needs to maintain its political momentum to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four and five set for 2015, Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo, Deputy Minister of Health has observed. He made the observation at the 18th annual Conference of the District Directors of Health (DDHs) in Ho, on the theme: “Using information for better decisions to achieve MDG 4 and 5: A challenge for the Health Manager.” MDG 4 aims to reduce child mortality among children below five years by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 while MDG 5 seeks to improve maternal mortality health by three-quarters within the same period. “For MDG 4, only five countries, excluding Ghana, are on track to achieve the target of reducing under-five mortality rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015,” the Minister said. Quoting the Demographic and Health Survey 2008 regarding MDG 5, Mr Mettle-Nunoo said: “There has not been any progress in maternal mortality reduction over the past one and a half decades.” “The coverage of skilled attendance at delivery has improved over the years but is still quite low at 58.7 per cent.” He noted that meeting the challenge meant more money for the health sector justified by evidence based statistics. Both donors and the Ghanaian public, he said, must be convinced that the sector requires what it is asking for. “Resources are badly needed but funds are limited,” he said, adding “We are not getting the logistics for which we are assessing you.” He urged the delegates to prioritise the completion of capital projects to create the space, comfort and atmosphere to work in. Mr Mettle-Nunoo expressed the need to review funding for the donor-driven sector. He said the back log of payments for services rendered by institutions in the sector must be cleared so as to shift from reliance on “direct payment to pre-payment” for services. He called for an end to “fragmented information” for “coherent information” in the sector, asking District Directors of Health to place premium on team work. Source: GNA