Navrongo (UE), Dec. 21, GNA - The Navrongo Research Centre (NHRC), in Kassena Nankana West, in the Upper East Region, has launched a new health project, dubbed "QUALMAT", which is aimed at improving maternal and newborn health, through improved health delivery.

The "QUALMAT" Project, which is for a period of five years, and already in operation, is being funded by the European Union. Five other health institutions from Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Burkina Faso and Tanzania are also benefiting from the Funding. Dr John Williams, Country Investigator of the Project, disclosed these to 40 Health Providers in Navrongo, at the weekend.

He educated the health providers on how the new project was being implemented in the Kassena-Nankana District and the Builsa District. He said under the project, health providers would be motivated adequately to render quality services, so as to curtail the high incident of maternal and infant mortality in the country.

Dr Williams said the project ultimate aim was to reduce maternal and infant deaths and would train health service providers on how to use Information Communication Technology (ICT) to facilitate their duties. He expressed the need to provide healthcare facilities and noted that, the project would help address the problem. In a welcome address, the Director of the NHRC, Dr Williams Hudgson observed that the project would help Ghana to achieve the Millennium Goal 4 and 5 easily.

He said if the programme ends successfully, it could be adopted by the Government to become a National Policy, to address the high maternal and infant mortality in the country. He appealed to the health providers to take the exercise seriously to ensure it's successfully implementation.