Ministry to pursue pro-poor agenda

Accra, June 4, GNA - The Ministry of Health, on Friday said it would pursue a "pro-poor" agenda involving increased services to the poor and vulnerable as part of its priorities areas for the year 2005. Dr Kweku Afriyie, Minister of Health, said the Ministry would also improve the quality of clinical services and accelerate key public health interventions on malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis control.

The Minister was speaking at the end of a three-day health partners' summit, which ended with the signing of an Aide Memoir. The Aide Memoir is expected to serve as a guide for the Health Sector's Five-year Programme of Work (5-POW) covering 2002-2006. The Summit, organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with its Development Partners, was used to disseminate findings of the mid-year report of the POW.

It was themed: "Partnership for Health - Bridging the Inequity Gap". The meeting was also used to plan on how to finance areas chosen for attention for the year 2005.

Dr Afriyie said another intervention to enhance service delivery would be to pursue equitable allocation of funds to the entire country. Dr Afriyie signed the Aide Memoir for the Ministry and its partners from the World Bank, Danish International Development Agency, Department for International Development, European Union and the Royal Netherlands Government, signed their portions.

Mr Arie van der Wiel, Ambassador of the Royal Netherlands, said health delivery must involve a multi-sectoral approach, which should embrace the provision of water and sanitation facilities.

He said health delivery was also dependent on good governance and a reliable administration to ensure equitable distribution of resources to all communities. 04 June 04