Accra, March 10, GNA - A reproductive health validation team from Togo, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger conferred in Accra to validate integrated training tools to be used for training family planning, maternal, neon0atal and infant health care providers. When the tools are finalised they would be used to facilitate the training of providers in the treatment of pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria to reduce neonatal and infant deaths.

=A0 Dr Aboubacry Thiam, Senior Technical Advisor for Newborn and Child health of the Action for West Africa Region II Project (USAID AWARE II) told the Ghana News Agency in Accra that pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria are the major childhood illnesses that lead to most mortality. After the validation workshop, the organisers will organise training of trainers for health providers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at the country level on the use of the tools. Professor Fatimata Diabate, Senior Technical Advisor of Family Planning and Maternal Health on the AWARE II Project added that, the trained providers would be involved in country-based distribution of contraceptives to increase family planning awareness and use. The meeting was facilitated by the Action for West Africa Region II (AWARE II), a three-year USAID funded project designed to identify, disseminate and expand the use of best practices in Family Planning/Reproductive Health, HIV and AIDS prevention and response and maternal, neonatal and child health, throughout 21 countries in West and Central Africa, managed by Management Sciences for Health. AWARE II aims to improve health outcomes at the national and local levels throughout West Africa, using high impact and proven strategies and integrated approaches to address the limited access to healthcare and low quality services. 10 March 11