One of the challenges of the Ghanaian health sector has been maternal deaths across the country.
This bane has been attributed to lack of human resources and equipment at many hospitals and clinics in Ghana.
The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, which has been one of the worst hit health facilities in terms of maternal mortality, has seen a drastic reduction in recent years.
And according to its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Oheneba Owusu-Danso, this can be attributed to the rehabilitation of the Mother and Baby Unit and enhanced access to ambulance services.
In the 2020 end of year review, Dr. Owusu-Danso pointed out that “the latest figure translates into maternal death ratio decline from 1,575 per 100,000 live births in 2019 to 847 per 100,000 live births in 2020.”
Dr. Owusu-Danso however believed strongly “improved clinical care” at the hospital accounted for the triumph.
“Two major contributing factors to this welcoming news could be the continued benefits the hospital is deriving from the new mother and baby Unit, the Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem center and also enhanced operational capacity of the National Ambulance Service which has ensured prompt and improved quality in the state referred patients are received in the hospital,” he noted.
“From a figure of 111 deaths in 2019, it reduced steeply to 53 in 2020,” he added.
For the past two decades, Ghana has witnessed a turtled improvement in maternal deaths.
The Ghana Health Service has envisaged a reduction of 54 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015 with the full implementation of the MDG Acceleration Framework.
