The Greater Accra Region recorded a reduction in ma­ternal deaths from 170 in 2023 to 163 per 100,000 live births last year, the Regional Health Director, Dr Akosua Owusu-Sar­pong, has disclosed.

Despite the improvement, the region still fell short of the 2024 national target set by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 125 deaths per 100,000 live births with low skilled delivery identified as a major setback to the region's performance. "Our inability to completely cap­ture skilled delivery data from all facilities including over 600 private sector facilities resulting in low skilled delivery is partly attributed to our performance," Dr Owu­su-Sarpong stated.

She was speaking at the opening of a two-day performance review meeting in Accra yesterday on the theme; "Improving performance and health outcomes through ser­vice delivery; partnership and ex­cellence in health service delivery." The meeting which brought together district heads, senior man­agers and heads of facilities within the region aimed at assessing the implementation of health activities in the region in the review year, identify gaps and map out strate­gies for improved performance in the years ahead.

Dr Owusu-Sarpong said efforts to strengthen maternal and perina­tal health in the region includ­ing strengthening inter-hospital referrals, safe motherhood and life-saving skills training as well as heightening monitoring of health zones had helped to reduce avoidable deaths in many health facilities.