12,000 GHANAIAN WOMEN RISK DEATH IF...

THE GHANA Health Service (GHS) has hinted that 12,000 women and 200,000 infants are at risk of death, while one million more will suffer disabilities, if interventions are not put in place, to curb the soaring numbers, resulting from maternal deaths.

The Service says, in addition to this, there will be loss of productivity, to the tune of $12 million, equivalent to ¢ 108 billion, due to maternal deaths, while disabilities including chronic anaemia, fistula, chronic pelvic pain, emotional depression and maternal, exhaustion, will amount to US$325 million.

This was revealed at the GHS monthly health promotion programme, which was on the theme, “Reducing Maternal Deaths: Partnership for Action,” in Accra on Tuesday.

The RH Programme Manager of the Family Health Division, Dr. Patrick Aboagye, noted that Ghana has recorded an increase in the number of maternal deaths, from 954 in 2006, to 996 2007, due to hypertension, bleeding, anaemia, unsafe abortions, infections and obstructed labour, among others.

The problem has been rising steadily since 1998, from 777, 813 in 1999, 851 in 2000, 954 in 2001, but saw a decrease in 2002 at 837, and went up again in 2003, at 854, decreased again in 2004 at 824, and since then has been on the rise, from 912, 954 and 996 in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively, he disclosed.

Experts say these numbers are high and unacceptable, especially because the situation impedes the attainment of the Millenium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5), which focuses on improving maternal health by 2015.

According to Dr. Aboagye, maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant, or within forty-two days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not accidental or incidental causes.

He said the country's maternal mortality ratio, currently stood at 214 per 100,000 live births, and out of the number of deaths recorded last year, 148 were adolescents, representing 15.5%, while hypertension constituted 19% of the deaths, bleeding 17%, anaemia 12%, unsafe abortions 11%, infections 10%, obstructed 7%, and others 24%.

From the above figures, every one in thirty-five women in Ghana, has a risk of dying from pregnancy in their lifetime, especially women who have limited access to education, economic and land inheritance opportunities, participation in governance, high poverty levels, poor health-seeking behaviours, low risk perception and harmful traditional practices.

He pointed out that about 80% of all maternal deaths, occur around the time of delivery or immediately after, and about 15% of all pregnant women, will develop some complication, most of which cannot be predicted, stressing, “all pregnancies are at risk.”

He lamented that in spite of this, only about 92% of pregnant women visit health centers for antenatal care, 18% are delivered by untrained traditional birth attendants, 9% are delivered by relatives and others, and 6% deliver by themselves.

Further, he attributed problems associated with maternal deaths, to delay in deciding to seek care at the household level, due to lack of information and inadequate knowledge about danger signals during pregnancy and labour, cultural and traditional practices that restrict women from seeking healthcare, as well as lack of money.

There is also delay in accessing health facilities, due to distant health facilities, poor roads and communication network, poor community support mechanisms, and delay in receiving healthcare at health facilities, because of inadequate skilled attendants, equipment, supplies and drugs, as well as poorly-motivated staff, and weak referral linkage.

Dr. Aboagye noted that to reverse the trend, and attain the MDGs, the country must be able to reduce the current maternal mortality ratio by 75%, that is 54 per 100,000 live births by 2015, which will amount to a gain of about US$140 million.

To achieve this, he said the Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) strategy, must be implemented in all disadvantaged districts, strengthen referral system, provide ambulance services for all essential obstetric care facilities, and provide radio communication equipment at all levels.

Also, he called for improved access to family planning services, and the need to form partnerships with private health providers, to improve access and improve skilled attendance, as well as “improve access to high quality delivery services, including improving attitude of health workers through capacity building.”

The Deputy Director of the GHS, Dr. George Amofa, said the current state of affairs, with regards to maternal deaths, was unacceptable, and urged all to get involved in the effort to salvage the situation, and improve the health of women and children.

He reiterated that all pregnancies were at risk of complications, and since no one can tell which ones will not have problems, all pregnant women should seek medical attention on time, especially now that care for pregnant women has been made free.

He appealed to queenmothers to help organize blood donation exercises in their various areas, for prompt blood transfusions in critical conditions, and cautioned road contractors against delay and poor service delivery, since by such actions, they constitute to maternal deaths, in view of the fact that transportation of pregnant women to health facilities on very poorly constructed roads, especially in rural areas, constitute delay in reaching health facilities, which often results in complications and eventually death.