By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu, GNA
Bolgatanga, Oct. 26, GNA – Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has called for increased investment in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and High-Dependency Units (HDUs) in regional and teaching hospitals.
He explained that such increased investment would improve the management of maternal complications to reduce maternal deaths in the country.
Dr Abubakari said inadequate critical care facilities and the inability of some families to afford ICU services contributed to maternal deaths, particularly among pregnant women who developed complications during childbirth.
He said the situation required urgent attention, given Ghana’s high maternal mortality rate and the national target to reduce maternal deaths to about 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement organised by the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF), popularly known as Mahama Cares, in Bolgatanga, Dr Abubakari said Ghana continued to record more than 300 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births annually.
He noted that the region was also experiencing a worrying trend, with the Upper East Regional Hospital among the 10 hospitals in the country that recorded the highest maternal deaths in 2025.
“At the stakeholders’ forum in Accra, among the regions that recorded higher deaths, one thing was identified: more than 50 per cent, 60 to 70 per cent, of these mothers died at the critical care stage,” he said.
Dr Abubakari explained that some women who developed severe complications after childbirth required intensive care but could not access the services because their families were unable to pay for them.
He said the situation was compounded by the lack of adequately equipped ICUs and HDUs in many hospitals, including the Upper East Regional Hospital, to manage complications before they deteriorated into life-threatening conditions.
“If the family cannot afford the ICU care, the majority of the mothers may die,” he said, and urged policymakers and stakeholders to prioritize financing for critical care services for pregnant women and mothers with childbirth-related complications.
He said hospitals needed not only the physical space for ICUs but also the necessary equipment and resources to provide comprehensive care to critically ill patients.
Dr Abubakari stressed that facilities with functional critical care units had demonstrated their ability to save the lives of women who might otherwise succumb to complications.
He, therefore, appealed to the management of the GMTF, government and other stakeholders to support the establishment and equipping of ICUs and HDUs in regional and teaching hospitals.
The Regional Director also highlighted the importance of specialist training and capacity-building, saying the GHS had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons to strengthen specialist training.
He said the Service needed further support to facilitate visits by specialist consultants, including accommodation and transportation, to enable them to provide specialized services and transfer skills to local health professionals.
Dr Abubakari said the regional administration and the hospital were exploring options to provide suitable accommodation for visiting specialists, noting that the cost of lodging them in hotels placed additional pressure on the hospital’s limited resources.
He also sought an update on plans to establish a modern dialysis centre at the Upper East Regional Hospital, saying the hospital was keen to know the stage reached in the procurement process following an earlier assessment by experts from the GMTF.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]