The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare yesterday validated the Maternal Care Guideline document at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) in Kanifing.

The validation workshop is a follow-up activity to the Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA). It is funded by UNFPA and brought together various institutions from the public and private sectors. Speaking at the opening ceremony,  Dr. Mamadi Cham, the director of Health Services, said the document is meant to reduce maternal mortality, which is part of the MDGs 4 and 5, as well as to reduce maternal mortality by 75% by 2015.

He revealed that they are validating 5 different documents, all geared towards improving the health sector. He then advised the participants to take the workshop seriously. Bafoday Jawara, head of Reproductive and Child Health Programme Unit at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said that the issue of children and women's health is a great concern for The Gambia government. The objective of the validation workshop, he indicated, is among other things, to reduce maternal and child mortality and to have a standard working guideline for service providers nationwide.