The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Dr. Sennen Hounton, says Ghana must stop treating maternal mortality as a minor health sector problem funded by foreign aid, describing it as a direct test of state capacity, public accountability and national sovereignty.
Speaking at a media roundtable on Monday, September 14, 2026 in Accra ahead of the launch of the Presidential Initiative on Maternal Survival (PRIMER), Dr. Hounton declared: “No one will come and save our mothers, our girls, our wives or us. We must do it ourselves.”
Only 3% Decline in 11 Years
Citing Ghana’s Population Census data, Dr. Hounton revealed that Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio moved from 310 per 100,000 live births in 2010 to 301 in 2021 — a decline of just 3 percent over eleven years — despite high coverage of antenatal and delivery services.
“Ghana has done so well in getting services closer to women and girls. If you look at delivery in institutions, it is one of the highest in the region. If you look at women doing antenatal care visits, the completion is one of the highest in the region,” he said.
“The crisis is what happens usually after they walk through the door.”
According to him, maternal death in Ghana is not a clinical mystery. The science is clear, whether it is bleeding (hemorrhage), obstructed labour requiring a cesarean section, or eclampsia, doctors know what to do. The failure is system readiness, including lack of blood, drugs, surgeons, and quality of care when women arrive.
He also flagged adolescent pregnancy and child marriage as a major driver, noting that when a child whose body is not fully developed gives birth to another child, the risk of dying is extremely high.
Why Health Ministry Alone Fails
Dr. Hounton, a medical doctor for 30 years, argued that for decades Ghana has treated maternal death as a hospital problem, while the real bottlenecks lie outside the Ministry of Health.
“Having a good road to make sure that the woman reaches quickly, on time, a facility when she is bleeding. Ministry of Health does not construct roads,” he stated.
“Having electricity 24/7… it looks granted for you but many facilities in remote parts don’t have electricity. They are working on generator and then when we have a woman then we rush and put on the generator. You have lost so much time.”
He added that even the hiring of midwives and doctors is often not controlled by the Health Ministry but by ministries responsible for public service and finance, which impose budget constraints.
“A Minister of Health does not have leverage over his or her counterpart in other departments. So you need someone with a convening power beyond the Ministry of Health to bring other Ministries,” Dr. Hounton explained.
That convening power, he said, is the Presidency, which is why UNFPA is backing Ghana’s decision to place PRIMER directly under the highest office of the land. He described it as a deliberate leadership shift, noting that only a few such presidential initiatives exist across the continent.
Donor Era Is Over — Ghana Must Find Its Own Money
On financing, Dr. Hounton warned that the era of relying on foreign aid for contraceptives and life-saving drugs is over.
“The way we have been looking at the issue… we rely on foreign aid that provides the contraception, the life-saving drug for us through GAVI, through UNFPA Supplies Partnership, through Global Fund… But we no longer have that. International financing institutions tend to invest more in infrastructure,” he said.
“Government is constrained by so many demands. We need to do more efficiency about the resources that are allocated, but we also need to have more capital from private sector, from investors, from government but also from community.”
He revealed that to close the financing gap, UNFPA is reaching beyond government to financiers. He disclosed that on Sunday, he met with the Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA), a bank present in 20 African countries, to explore how commercial banks can contribute to maternal health.
He also said UNFPA and the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) are developing a special concessional loan mechanism, similar to European Union loans, that African countries can access specifically to build hospitals and fund maternal health services.
Challenge to Journalists
Dr. Hounton ended with a direct challenge to Ghanaian journalists to move beyond ceremonial launches and hold government accountable.
“I challenge you to look past the ceremonial launch that we have. That’s not what we will celebrate, but it’s really a deliberate leadership side from the government. Use your platform to track the performance, the regional performance of that PRIMER, question some of the bottlenecks, the supply chain of the drugs,” he said.
“In this region, in this district, are the drugs there to save the woman or the girl when she comes? Use your pen and microphone to speak for mothers who cannot speak for themselves.”
By Ernestina Afake
