Findings from the 2024 Ghana Health Service (GHS) report show that institutional maternal mortality remains high, rising from 100.22 per 100,000 live births in 2023 to 101.68 in 2024, signalling stalled progress in reducing maternal deaths.
The report also indicated a sharp decline in skilled delivery coverage, falling from 60.62% in 2023 to 55.26% in 2024. Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh described this trend as “worrying” and a threat to achieving national maternal and neonatal mortality targets. Neonatal mortality remained largely unchanged at 5.17 per 1,000 live births.
Despite these challenges, antenatal care improved, with coverage for the fourth ANC visit reaching 85.5% and the eighth visit at 43.83%, demonstrating progress in early and continuous pregnancy monitoring.
These findings were shared at the 5th Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition Conference in Accra, themed “Strengthening Free Primary Health Care — Accelerating Equity and Access to Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition Services Towards the Attainment of the SDG 2030.” The three-day event brought together key stakeholders, including professional health associations, to accelerate progress toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking on behalf of the Health Minister, Dr Caroline Reindorf Amissah highlighted persistent maternal health challenges linked to inequities in primary healthcare, gaps in quality of care, weak data systems, and limited workforce capacity. The Minister urged strengthened primary care, improved midwifery and community-based services, emergency obstetric and newborn care, respectful maternity care, and expanded digital health and reproductive health access.
UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition, Juan Manuel Dewez, noted that while global maternal and child deaths have declined over decades, maternal mortality has recently stagnated or increased in many regions, with preventable causes like severe bleeding, hypertension, infections, and unsafe abortions continuing to claim thousands of lives. Without urgent action, over one million additional women could die by 2030.
