Midwives and doctors across the country have been called upon to offer quality services in order to prevent loss of lives.The call was made yesterday by the Minister of State in charge of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Dr. Anita Asiimwe, during an event organised to mark the International Day of the Midwife."As health service providers, it is our responsibility to provide the most effective services to ensure that we contribute towards the reduction or doing away with maternal mortality rate which is also in line with achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” said Asiimwe.   She warned that any negligence by health service providers at work will lead to serious action against them. Punitive measures have previously  been taken against medical practitioners found culpable of neglecting and abusing their work. "We are aware that there is need to have more midwives, but we are doing our best to bridge the skills gap in the profession,” she said.The Rwanda Association of Midwives says that annually, at least 250 midwives get on to the job market after graduating from Rwandan schools of nursing and midwifery.These schools include Kagbayi, Kibungo, Byumba, Rwamagana and Nyagatare.The government plans to train more midwives to bring down the ratio of midwife per pregnant woman to one midwife per 25,000 pregnant women by 2017. Currently, the ratio stands at one midwife per 44,584 pregnant women, according to the Ministry of Health.The association says that it has so far registered 500 midwives, a number which is said to be low compared to the number of women giving birth.Speaking during the event, Josephine Murekezi, the Chairperson of the association, called for more health facilities, saying with the current schools training midwives, the shortage of human resource will soon be sorted."There are more 800 midwives who are said to have successfully completed their training; and at this rate, we are sure that the skills gap may not exist for long,” she said.  At the same event, Mary Murebwayire, the Chief Nursing Officer in the Ministry of Health was recognised as the most hardworking midwife of the year 2012.