Article
How do we improve maternal and child health outcomes in Ghana?
International Journal of Health Planning and Management
(2023)
Abstract
Maternal and infant mortality includes a number of health challenges in Ghana, with outcomes among the worst in the subregion and the world. Our aim here was to provide insights into how Ghana has approached these challenges, with a view to making suggestions for the future. Ghana has made significant gains in reducing infant and maternal deaths in the past decade through initiatives like the Free Maternal Care Policy, the Community-based Health Planning Services, and the National Health Insurance Policy. These policies have improved financial access to maternal and obstetric health services, facility-based delivery, and antenatal care services in particular. However, a number of challenges still hinder access to maternal and child health outcomes. Poor infrastructure, human resource challenges, poor access to essential medicines, poor quality of care, and superstitious and cultural beliefs have been noted in the literature. We suggest that while providing the necessary human and financial resources, other initiatives including the promotion of maternal health education, supervised home delivery, and zero maternal death interventions should be encouraged to help improve maternal and child health outcomes in Ghana.
Keywords
- Ghana,
- infant mortality,
- maternal and child health outcomes,
- maternal mortality
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring March 28, 2023
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3639
Citation Information
Adu J, Owusu MF. How do we improve maternal and child health outcomes in
Ghana? Int J Health Plann Mgmt. 2023;1-6. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3639
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-SA International License.