Ashanti Regional Director of Health Dr. Fred Adomako–Boateng
The Ashanti Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has announced renewed efforts to curb the rising trend of maternal mortality, as 889 mothers have died from birth complications between 2020 and 2024.
Ashanti Regional Director of Health, Dr. Fred Adomako-Boateng, disclosed this at the Integrated 2024 Annual Performance Review and First Quarter Health System Innovations Review Meeting in Kumasi.
He revealed that the Institutional Maternal Mortality Ratio per 100,000 live births in:
2020 was 105 maternal deaths, meaning 124 mothers died.
2021 recorded 132 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, with 168 mothers losing their lives.
2022 saw 181 maternal deaths, reflecting 134 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
2023 marked a sharp increase, with 217 mothers dying, translating to 167 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
2024 recorded a slight decline to 199 deaths, equating to 166 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, against a target of 125 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Describing the figures as heartbreaking, Dr. Adomako-Boateng called for intensified efforts to halt these preventable deaths.
“Cumulatively, why should 889 women die while giving life? We are grateful for UNICEF’s support as we seek to address this challenge, but time is not on our side. We must act swiftly to achieve the target of 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030—the clock is ticking,” he emphasised.
He proposed that the Ashanti Region adopt the 2020 maternal mortality ratio of 105 deaths per 100,000 live births as its target for 2025, describing it as one of the best-performing years in maternal health.
Dr. Fred Adomako-Boateng underscored the importance of strengthening primary healthcare across all levels of the health service, stressing that early detection and management of complications could prevent aggravated cases and reduce unnecessary deaths.
“It is based on these challenges that, after much deliberation, we settled on the theme: ‘Strengthening Primary Health Care (PHC) through Networks of Practice (NoP) towards Universal Health Coverage: The Role of Stakeholders.’”
He pointed out that Community-Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds, health centers in sub-districts, and district hospitals have the potential to handle over 80% of healthcare needs with the right support and attention.
“However, this is not the case, and most minor illnesses end up at secondary and tertiary levels, unnecessarily increasing the workload and impacting service quality,” he lamented.
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