The Upper East Region recorded a total of 60 maternal deaths in 2025, the Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, has disclosed.
Maternal deaths rose from 40 in 2024 to 60 in 2025, pushing the institutional maternal mortality ratio from 97 per 100,000 live births in 2024 to 132 per 100,000 in 2025, almost double the global target of 70 by 2030.
During the same period, neonatal mortality increased from five to six deaths per 1,000 live births, while outpatient attendance per capita also dipped slightly from 1.20 to 1.18, reflecting emerging access and utilisation challenges.
Anaemia in pregnancy also remained high, increasing from 17,020 cases in 2024 to 17,377 in 2025. Although antenatal care (ANC) coverage improved from 74.28 per cent to 83.65 per cent, early ANC registration stagnated marginally at 60.3 per cent in 2025, compared to 60.2 per cent in 2024.
Review meeting
Dr Abubakari disclosed this at the 2025 annual regional health sector performance review meeting held in Bolgatanga on the theme: “Strengthening health systems for sustainable and equitable access to quality health care: The Role of Monitoring and Supportive Supervision.”
Dr Abubakari described the increase in maternal deaths as a major setback to the region’s quest to achieve universal health coverage and noted that the disease pattern in the region has remained largely consistent over the past three years.
According to him, malaria, upper respiratory tract infections, diarrhoeal diseases, typhoid fever and anaemia continue to dominate the top causes of outpatient attendance.
Despite ongoing public health interventions, he said immunisation coverage recorded marginal declines, with measles-rubella dropping from 75.99 per cent in 2024 to 73.48 per cent in 2025, while Penta 3 coverage stagnated at about 81.5 per cent.
Insecurity
He said the Bawku chieftaincy conflict continues to impact healthcare delivery, leading to the temporary closure of facilities and the relocation of staff.
Dr Abubakari cited the Binduri Health Centre as one of the facilities that has remained shut for almost a year due to insecurity, warning that the situation is worsening the already fragile human resource situation in the region.
The poor state of ambulance services and road networks, he noted, further limits emergency response efforts.
Assurance
Responding to the concerns, the Upper East Regional Minister, Donatus Akamugri Atanga, acknowledged the challenges and assured stakeholders of the government’s commitment to addressing them.
He emphasised the need to guarantee security for health workers, particularly in conflict-affected areas, to enable them to deliver essential services without fear.
Mr Atanga said concerns raised by health workers—including the need for special risk allowances and life insurance packages—would be considered under the Bawku revitalisation framework.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh