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Effective collaboration and integration among key stakeholders in the health sector is key towards tackling the rising maternal deaths in the Ashanti Region.
Between 2021 and 2025, the region recorded a total of 778 maternal deaths. More specifically, in 2021, the region recorded 132 per 100,000 live births, which rose to 134 per 100,000 live births in 2022.
In 2023, the figure rose further to 167 per 100,000 live births, in 2024, it reduced to 166 per 100,000 live births and in 2025, it jumped to 179 per 100,000 live births.
The Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Fred Adomako-Boateng, who disclosed this during the 2025 annual performance review, said “as stakeholders, we need to come together to address maternal mortality in the region”.
The event, which was on the theme: “Free primary health care: Closing equity gaps and accelerating universal health coverage”, was also used to launch the KOICA Network of Practice (NoP) project on maternal and child health in the region.
He mentioned that since the deaths were recorded in public and private health facilities, as well as faith-based health establishments, it was important for all the stakeholders to collaborate to address the situation.
Throwing more light on maternal deaths recorded in the year under review, he said 5.2 per cent of all the deaths were people who attended antenatal care and delivered at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
The participants
“The Ghana Health Service facilities in the region contributed 47 per cent, while Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) facilities in and outside the region contributed 32 per cent. Private facilities in and outside the region also contributed 16 per cent to the total deaths,” he said.
Outside KATH, Dr Adomako-Boateng revealed that GHS facilities in the region contributed 51 per cent to the deaths, child friendly facilities also contributed 32 per cent, while private facilities contributed 17 per cent.
He stated that strengthening funding mechanisms and improving reimbursement efficiency under the National Health Insurance Scheme would help ensure that health facilities deliver services without financial constraints while maintaining quality care.
“Many rural and underserved communities still face limited access to skilled health professionals.
Expanding training opportunities, improving incentives for rural postings, and strengthening community-based service delivery will be critical for improving access,” he said.
In a message delivered on his behalf, the Director-General, GHS, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, called for intensified efforts to reduce deteriorating trends in institutional maternal mortality, skilled delivery coverage and family planning acceptance rates, among others.
“These indicators represent real lives and family realities, and they demand renewed focus, innovation and strengthened supervision at all levels of care,” he said, and further urged them to strengthen patient redress mechanisms and implement measures to promote client satisfaction.
The Medical Director, KATH, Dr Kwadwo Sarbeng, in a remark, expressed worry about increasing maternal deaths in the region and said “we should be working together to reduce the ills in the health sector”.
“As an obstetrician, technically, pregnant women are not sick people and so when you have a lot of them dying from childbirth, it is a measure of the state of the health system we have,” he said.
On measures to deal with it, he mentioned prompt and appropriate emergency interventions, improvement in networking and referral systems, continuous training of personnel and mentorship, among others.
The Chair, Regional Health Advisory Committee, Dr Frank Nketia Boakye, said the reduction in maternal and neonatal mortality remains one of the committee’s topmost urgent priorities.
He said while the region recorded commendable gains in skilled delivery and antenatal care attendance, some women still faced unacceptable risk during pregnancy and childbirth, saying, “We must interrogate the data while examining the gaps in emergency obstetric care and referral systems”.
The Country Director, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Donghyun Lee, said the Korean government was funding the NoP project on maternal and child care at a cost of $30million.
Through the project, he said, they hoped to support better collaboration, improve service delivery and ensure that women and children receive better medical services, as well as strengthen the provision of primary health care nationwide.
