The Ghana Health Service (GHS) says inadequate and unreliable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services remain a major challenge to quality healthcare delivery, particularly maternal and newborn care, in the Upper East Region.
Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, Upper East Regional Director of the GHS, said although all health facilities in the region had access to potable water through the Ghana Water Company Limited or boreholes, water supply remained erratic in some facilities.
He said the situation could undermine infection prevention and control, particularly during childbirth, when strict hygiene was critical to protecting mothers and newborns.
“A health facility without water, sanitation and hygiene cannot deliver quality care, irrespective of how many doctors, midwives and drugs it has,” Dr Abubakari said.
He was speaking at the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Regional Awards ceremony in Bolgatanga on the theme: “Beyond the Headlines: The Media’s Role in Promoting Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Safe Motherhood and Quality Healthcare.”
Dr Abubakari said the region recorded a skilled delivery rate of 78.86 per cent in 2025, while its institutional maternal mortality ratio increased from 97.1 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024 to 132.43 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2025.
He said sepsis accounted for 10 per cent of maternal deaths in the region in 2025, making it the fourth leading cause of maternal deaths.
The Regional Director said 4,440 cases of acute watery diarrhoea were recorded among children under five during the period.
He said the region had made progress in expanding Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, training midwives and community health nurses, and improving access to antenatal and skilled delivery services.
However, challenges, including prolonged dry seasons, seasonal water scarcity, broken-down boreholes and inadequate maintenance, continued to affect some communities and health facilities, he said.
Dr Abubakari said fewer than 10 per cent of health facilities in the region had multipurpose incinerators, resulting in many facilities resorting to open burning and burying waste in the ground.
He called for stronger collaboration among the GHS, Regional Coordinating Council, District Assemblies, development partners and non-governmental organisations to strengthen WASH infrastructure and services.
Dr Abubakari said the media also had an important role to play in highlighting WASH challenges and following up on interventions to ensure accountability.
“Follow-up is where accountability lives,” he said, and urged journalists to revisit facilities and communities to determine whether promised WASH interventions had been delivered.
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