(7th September, 2015)

Honorable Dr. Sylvester Anemana, Chief Director of the Ministry of Health,

Honorable Dr. Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, Director-General of Ghana Health Service,

Other Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening! Thank you for joining us on the occasion to see off the 22 Ghanaian professionals who are leaving for China tomorrow to attend the Training Course on Maternal Healthcare Service, a 90-day training program held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

We also want to take this opportunity to mark the excellent cooperation between the Chinese Embassy and the Ministry of Health in human resources development programs. The year of 2015 has witnessed more than 700 Ghanaian officials and technicians benefit from the capacity building seminars, training courses, master or doctoral scholarship programs sponsored by Chinese government, among which about 100 are from health sector, including 6 winners of master scholarship programs.

China also dispatched a public health specialist team to Ghana in February this year. Collaborating with the Ministry of Health, the Chinese specialists held 5 sessions of anti-Ebola training in Takoradi, Cape Coast and Accra, and more than 400 community health workers and 100 community workers took part in the training.

The fruitful achievements in the capacity building on health sector come from our joint efforts. I want to especially acknowledge the great support of the Chief Director as well as the diligent work of the competent officials of the Ministry.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Improving maternal health and reducing child mortality are two important aspects of Millennium Development Goals. The target has been set that by 2015 mortality rate of newborn and under-five-year child should be reduced by 2/3 and the maternal mortality rate by 3/4. China, as the world largest developing country, has achieved the MDG 4 and 5 through years of hard work. Last year the maternal mortality rate in the whole country dropped to 21.7/100000, the newborn and under-five-years mortality rate dropped to 8.9/1000 and 11.7/1000. China has accumulated some experience in improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. However, due to the unbalanced development, the mortality rate in rural area is much higher than in urban area. There is still a long way to go to improve the maternal health service for rural areas.

The Ghanaian government also puts a lot of emphasis on improving the maternal health. President Mahama and First Lady Lordina addressed this issue on a number of occasions. The Ministry of Health takes this issue as its top priority and works hard to find a solution despite financial difficulties. In 2012, the Ministry of Health reached out to the Chinese Embassy, proposing a training plan in this regard. After a year's preparation, the first training course on maternal and newborn healthcare for Ghana was held from April to July, 2014 in China in which 25 doctors, midwives and nurses participated. This year it is the second time to hold this training course and we expect the same arrangement for another group of maternal health workers next year. Reducing maternal and child mortality is a systematic project which can not be accomplished at a stroke. It requires consistent policy support of the government in increasing the input, building more maternal hospitals and clinics, training more qualified doctors and midwives, and mobilizing more social resources for hospital delivery and spreading maternal health knowledge. China is willing to share its experience and techniques in maternal health with Ghana so that we can learn from each other's strength, improve our work, and benefit our people.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You may have noticed that three days ago, on September 4, Chinese Foreign Minister and South African Foreign Minister made a joint announcement that the Summit of Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in Johannesburg South Africa on December 4 and 5, 2015. If one recalls the great contribution made by Beijing Summit of FOCAC in 2006 to China Africa relations, then one has every reason to believe in a leapfrog stride of China Africa relations propelled by the outcomes of this Summit in South Africa. As far as I know, Chinese government will roll out new policy measures to advance cooperation with African countries in industrialization, connectivity infrastructure, public health and peace and security. In line with this, the Second China Africa Ministerial Conference on Health will be held on 4-6 October in Cape Town, South Africa and the Chinese side sincerely wishes Honorable Minister Alex Segbefia can attend the conference, and engage in extensive discussions with the counterparts of China and African countries to flesh out new strategies for our future cooperation on health.

China and Ghana have enjoyed effective cooperation on health. China has helped build up 2 hospitals, donated cash, drugs, materials and medical equipment, and sent Chinese medical teams to work in Ghana. By the end of this year, we have two more projects to implement, one is to donate anti-malaria injection and the other is to invite Chinese specialists to cure cataract patients. China is committed to further strengthening cooperation with Ghana.

I will not conclude my remarks without wishing the 22 Ghanaian professionals a pleasant stay in China. Chengdu, the city you are going to stay for 3 months, is the capital of Sichuan Province, which is known as Land of Abundance, located in the southwest of China. It is famous for beautiful scenery, long history, richly endowed natural resources and pandas. As the leader of the 8 Chinese famous cuisines, Sichuan cuisine is not only popular in China, but also well known in the world with its spicy and delicious flavor. Apart from improving your professional techniques there, I wish you would enjoy Chinese culture and Chinese food. I am delighted to know that some of our participants are principles, vice principles or senior tutors of nursing schools. I sincerely hope that when you come back from China, you will not only teach your students the maternal techniques and experience you learned from China, but also be a bridge of friendship between China and Ghana, sharing the Chinese culture with your students, your family members and friends.

Thank you.