Liverpool John Moores University has signed a memorandum of understanding to provide short courses and degree course for midwives and nurses from the country.
Professor Godfrey Mazhindu, dean of the university’s faculty of health sciences, and the Ghanaian deputy minister of health Joseph Mettle-Nunoo signed the memo on Friday (September 23).
Mr Mettle-Nunoo said the introduction of the courses will provide an opportunity for clinical specialisation and a more efficient health service.
With Ghana in ‘critical need’ of trained midwives, Mr Mettle-Nunoo said the courses will help ‘build a clinical workforce that would respond to peculiarities of the issues at hand’.
Midwives will be able to carry out their study in Ghana or come to the UK to study at the university in Liverpool.
The commitment also includes exchange programmes between the two countries, study visits and collaborative research projects.
The news comes just weeks after the Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA) appealed to its government for better training.
Joyce Jetuah, the president of GRMA, said inadequate infrastructure and a lack of logistics and recreation facilities is limiting student numbers.
She called on the government to provide incentives and logistics to enable midwives to deliver their services, especially to difficult-to-reach communities or remote areas.
She added that the country has about 3780 midwives, including nurse-midwives, most of who are between 40 and 60 years.
The new agreement has been forged after a delegation from Ghana was invited to Liverpool in July, to look into the possibility of a partnership.
It is hoped the courses will lead to an increase in the number of trained midwives and help improve Ghana’s chances of reaching the Millennium Development Goal on maternal and child mortality.
