The Greater Accra Region recorded a reduction in maternal deaths from 170 in 2023 to 163 per 100,000 live births last year, the Regional Health Director, Dr Akosua Owusu-Sarpong, has disclosed.
Despite the improvement, the region still fell short of the 2024 national target set by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 125 deaths per 100,000 live births with low skilled delivery identified as a major setback to the region’s performance.
“Our inability to completely capture skilled delivery data from all facilities including over 600 private sector facilities resulting in low skilled delivery is partly attributed to our performance,” Dr Owusu-Sarpong stated.
She was speaking at the opening of a two-day performance review meeting in Accra yesterday on the theme; “Improving performance and health outcomes through service delivery; partnership and excellence in health service delivery.”
The meeting which brought together district heads, senior managers and heads of facilities within the region aimed at assessing the implementation of health activities in the region in the review year, identify gaps and map out strategies for improved performance in the years ahead.
Dr Owusu-Sarpong said efforts to strengthen maternal and perinatal health in the region including strengthening inter-hospital referrals, safe motherhood and life-saving skills training as well as heightening monitoring of health zones had helped to reduce avoidable deaths in many health facilities.
She expressed hope that the focus of the directorate this year to leverage on partnership, strengthen governance systems and improve on service quality and safety would enable them obtain better health outcomes and improve the health status and conditions of the populace.
The Greater Regional Minister, Linda Ocloo, in a speech read on her behalf, urged health professional to remain steadfast in improving healthcare delivery, emphasising the importance of collaboration, governance, and quality in advancing better health outcomes.
“The maternal and perinatal health donor concept has already shown promising results in improving maternal and child health. We must continue to invest in this initiative, ensuring a good referral system, capacity building for health care workers, and resource allocation to high need areas.
We must continue to promote transparency, accountability, and excellence within our health care institutions. Strengthening reporting mechanisms, particularly in the private health sector, will ensure more accurate data capture and informed decision-making,” the Minister urged.
For her part, the Deputy Director-General of the GHS, Dr Caroline Reindorf Amissah, charged health workers to see themselves as part of building a resilient healthcare system and discharge their duties with utmost diligence.
“Our mission as GHS cannot be achieved in isolation. We need to collaborate with other partners, as well as other government agencies to bring in the vital resources as well as share best practices to foster inclusiveness in the delivery of health care in our country,” she urged.
Ghana’s national target, aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1, is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.
Currently, the country’s MMR stands at 167 per 100,000 live births calling for improved strategies to meet the SDG goal in the next five years.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
