"With perinatal mortality, stillbirths reduced slightly, but neonatal deaths went up from 6.3 deaths per 1000 live births in 2018 to 8.7 deaths per 1000 live births in 2019 due significantly to late referrals."

Perinatal mortality refers to deaths of babies before birth and during the first week after birth.

Dr Ofosu said this when he addressed the opening ceremony of a two-day 2019 Regional health performance review meeting held in Bolgatanga on the theme, "The role of quality data in achieving Universal Health Coverage in Upper East Region."

He said the proportion of pregnant women who made at least four Antenatal visits before delivery increased from 79.1 per cent in 2018 to 83.5 per cent in 2019, while skilled delivery, which is the proportion of births attended to by trained attendants, increased from 70.6 per cent in 2018 to 73.5 per cent in 2019.

The Director said institutional maternal mortality declined from 137.5 per 100, 000 live births in 2017 to 91.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018  and 82 deaths per 100,000 live births by the end of 2019.

"This year, we want to go below 70 deaths per 100,000 live births, the Sustainable Development Goal target for 2030. We remain at the top as far as the maternal indicators are concerned in the country, notwithstanding human resource challenges."

On malnutrition, Dr Ofosu said it reduced from 3.5 per cent in 2018 to 2.6 per cent in 2019, while Childhood immunization coverage increased from 80.8 per cent in 2018 to 84.6 per cent in 2019.

He said the Region in the year under review, 2019, recorded 9.7 per cent of mother-to-child transmission of Human Immune Virus (HIV) infection due to non- compliance by pregnant women.

Malaria case fatality for children under five years reduced from 0.1 per cent in 2018 to 0.0 per cent in 2019, Dr Ofosu said.

Touching on the shortage of Doctors in the Region over the years, the Director said "At the close of 2019, our Doctor to population ratio improved slightly from one Doctor per 23, 942 people in 2018 to one Doctor per 18, 459 people in 2019.

"We still have a lot to do in attracting and retaining health staff in the Region, especially Medical Officers", he said.

In a speech delivered on behalf of the GHS Council, Dr Hilda Ampadu, a Member of the Council, thanked the staff of the Service for their commitment, hardwork and contributions towards the growth and development of the Service in spite of their challenges.

Dr Ampadu said the Council made 160 appointments into various management positions such as Deputy Directors, Programme Managers, District, Medical Directors and Superintendents including; Regional Health Directors for the six newly created Regions.

"The target is to fill all vacant management positions in the Service by the end of this year. These are part of measures to help strengthen leadership and governance capacity in the Service, which are critical in ensuring the overall performance of the Service," she said.