Mr Francis Boateng, Brong Ahafo Regional Coordinating Director on Tuesday recommended that neonatal health programmes must be placed within the broader context of improving maternal and child health, integrated with safe motherhood and child survival programmes.
He was addressing the on-going 2009 annual review meeting of the regional health service at Fiapre, near Sunyani, which is on the theme "improving maternal and neonatal health through quality care and partnership".
The participants are from all the various municipal and district directorates of health service in the region.
Mr Boateng stressed the need for health care providers at all levels to be educated on essential child birth care and closer links between the home, health centres, district and regional hospitals.
He noted that, although many interventions had helped to improve neonatal health and survival in the county, there was still lack of community-based effective trials of packages of maternal and neonatal care.
The regional co-ordinating director said a substantial proportion of foetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality in the country could be prevented through wider implementation of proven, affordable interventions during pregnancy, delivery and the early postpartum and neonatal periods.
"In order to move into action, policy makers, programme managers and other stakeholders must embrace neonatal health as essential for future improvement in child survival and also a means to improve maternal health", Mr Boateng added.
He emphasized that the government was doing everything possible to make real progress towards achieving the millennium development goals of reducing by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio and reducing by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five years.
Dr. Aaron Ofei, Regional Director of Health Service, disclosed that there was a significant reduction in guinea worm cases, with the Atebubu district still as the focus of infection in the region.
He was not happy that tuberculosis detection rate still stood at 30 percent, adding that, the region recorded high prevalence of Onchocercaisis in the middle belt of the Pru district.
Dr. Ofei expressed his concern about the delay in transporting women in labour to health facilities, which he said contributed to the loss of lives and appealed to pregnant women to ensure regular medical check ups.