DLT report reveals health intra-regional disparities in Gt. Accra Region

The Greater Accra Region has the highest number of metropolises, municipalities and districts (MMDs) in the bottom 10 of the District League Table (DLT) despite its comparatively advanced health and sanitation infrastructure.

The DLT report data revealed a persistent challenge, which called for the need for tailored strategies that focused on improving governance, health care, as well as the quality of services.

The same Greater Accra Region also had five districts in the overall top 10 scoring districts, highlighting significant intra-regional disparities that must be addressed to ensure equitable health service delivery across districts.

“The Greater Accra Region, known for its relatively advanced health infrastructure, presents a dichotomy in outcomes, with five MMDs in the top 10 and four in the least scoring MMDs.

“This duality highlights significant intra-regional disparities that must be addressed to ensure equitable health service delivery across districts,” the report stated.

Also, five MMDs — namely Suaman District, Ada West District, Asokore Mampong Municipality, Ga Central Municipality and Ablekuma North Municipality — remained among the least-performing districts in 2022 and 2023.

The health sector performance was assessed based on four indicators, namely the proportion of mothers attending at least four antenatal care visits, the proportion of newborns and mothers receiving postnatal care within 48 hours of delivery, the proportion of children under one year fully immunised, and skilled attendant at delivery.

DLT report

The report was launched on February 13, 2025, by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), in partnership with UNICEF Ghana.

The DLT ranks all MMDs based on selected indicators from various sectors.

Since its initiation in 2014, the report has generated awareness of the disparities among districts and served as a reference tool for the government to assess the performances of MMDs and aid in policy and decision-making.

The report allows for stakeholders to provide evidence and a basis for more equitable resource allocation and social investment to reduce disparity among MMDs.

Top performing MMDs in health

The Korle Klottey Municipality maintained its leading position as the best-performing MMD in health scoring 99.9 points in 2023 and 96.7 in 2022.

The report underscored the need for other MMDs to study the strategies implemented by the municipality to enhance enrolment and completion rates in health-related services.

There was a general improvement recorded for all MMDs in the top 10, although the highest improvement recorded was in the Tempane District in the Upper East Region, rising from a score of 32.5 in 2022 to 98.2 in 2023.