Scores of women from all walks of life yesterday thronged to the Castle to express their gratitude to President J.A. Kufuor for his role in securing a British government grant of 42.5 million pounds sterling to provide free medical care for pregnant women. The women, drawn from financial and educational institutions, the security services, nurses, traders, religious and civil society groups, were led to the Castle by the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama. Waving miniature national flags, the women virtually turned the Castle gardens into a worship centre as they sang in praise of God for helping the President to secure the grant and when he emerged from the entrance to the garden some of them surged forward to meet him. The security had a hectic time controlling the women, many of whom were reportedly visiting the Castle for the first time. A downpour nearly marred the programme shortly after its commencement but the guests were quickly relocated to the main lobby of the Castle. President Kufuor said the government was very much concerned about the high maternal mortality rate, hence, the budget allocation of six million dollars to half reverse the trend. The country, he said records the death of about 500 women in every 100,000 births. He said reducing this rate was one of the Millennium Devleopment Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015 by Ghana and therefore did not hesitate to tell the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, when he asked of the challenges facing Ghana in achieving the MDGs. With the money now available for the scheme, he said "there should not be any reason for you to pay fees when you go to deliver". President Kufuor noted that the grant can last for almost 14 years calculated on six million dollar yearly budgetary allocation to control maternal mortality and expressed the hope that the policy will be permanent. He however advised women not to take undue advantage and give birth even at the risk of their lives. "With the opportunity given to me to be your President, I want to make policies that will ensure that you give birth in good health. "You don’t have to give birth to die and leave the baby orphaned but you should be able to nurture the child to become a responsible citizen of Ghana," he said. Hajia Mahama expressed gratitude to the President for securing the grant for the benefit of Ghanaian women and the many other pro-women policies which have been formulated and implemented. The Minister of Health, Major (rtd) Courage Quashigah, said a war has been declared on maternal mortality with the receipt of the grant. He said a task force has been set up to ensure the smooth implementation of the policy as early as possible. President Kufuor secured the grant from the British government a fortnight ago when he met Mr Brown after attending a conference for Public-Private Cooperation for the achievement of the MDG in London. The conference sought to find ways of getting the private sector to assist governments to achieve the MDGs. Source: The Ghanaian Times