Upper East Region records 143 maternal deaths in 4 years

A total of 143 maternal deaths have been recorded within four years in the Upper East Region, the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Samuel K. Boakye-Boateng, has said.

In 2021, the region recorded 43 deaths, which reduced to 27 in 2022, then it increased to 33 deaths in 2023 and further increased to 40 deaths in 2024, bringing the total of maternal deaths in four years to 143.

Review meeting

Dr Boakye-Boateng disclosed this during a two-day 2024 annual performance review meeting of the Upper East Region on the theme: “Using network of Practice (NoP) to drive universal access to quality maternal health care.”

The NoP programme is one of Ghana’s flagship strategies to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC), with a focus on primary health care through improving quality health services, partnership and innovation.

Dr Boakye-Boateng mentioned that one main disturbing trend was the increase in the institutional mortality ratio from 77 per 100,000 live births to 97 per 100,000 live births, despite all their positive efforts.

“Closely linked to this indicator is the incidence of anaemia in pregnant women at 36 weeks gestation from 44.4 per cent to 43 per cent as against a target of 35.5 per cent,” he said and further expressed worry about the increase in maternal deaths in the year under review.

Quest

He stated that the region’s quest for zero tolerance for maternal deaths could only be achieved if all stakeholders collaborated effectively to strengthen community and health facility factors that continued to linger and hinder efforts aimed at eliminating preventable maternal deaths.

He added that it was for this reason that the region was leveraging the opportunities and strengths that came with deliberately connecting health centres into networks of practice, to halt and reverse the trend in maternal deaths and improve key performance indicators in the years ahead.

Therefore, he called on all stakeholders to continue to support the directorate to sustain the gains made and reverse all negative achievements.

Dr Boakye-Boateng disclosed that all the 30 selected hubs or networks in the region were successfully launched in the last quarter of 2024, leading to the supply of essential drugs, equipment among others.

He urged development partners and other players to identify areas where they could provide support across the 15 municipal and district assemblies (MDAs), to help accelerate the region’s efforts towards the attainment of UHC by 2030.  

Evolving world

The Upper East Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga, said the theme for the event was appropriate and timely, particularly in today’s evolving world where maternal health care has become more dynamic.

He explained that universal access to quality maternal healthcare would only be guaranteed if every pregnant woman, regardless of location or socio-economic status, could receive timely and high-standard medical attention.

“The dream of universal access to quality maternal health is within reach but only if we move beyond isolated efforts to a collaborative, well-structured NoP” he said, stressing that “everyone has a role to play in strengthening the NoP, whether as caregivers, policymakers, researchers or community health advocates.”

Writer’s email: gilbert.agbey@graphic.com.gh