President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over Ghana's high maternal mortality rate, which remains approximately three times higher than the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) benchmark. Speaking at the Accra Reset gathering in New York on September 21, 2026, he described the situation as unacceptable. The SDG framework aims to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to fewer than 70 deaths for every 100,000 live births by 2030.
President Mahama identified maternal and child health as a critical measure of the proposed global reset in health governance and development cooperation. He emphasized that reversing the trend of high maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa requires stronger national health systems and more effective international cooperation. The region accounts for the overwhelming majority of maternal deaths recorded globally.
The President launched the final report of the Accra Reset High Level Panel, titled "A Sovereign Future for Health," which proposes five political shifts and ten recommendations to reshape global health governance. The report emphasizes enabling countries to exercise greater control over their health priorities, financing arrangements, and institutional systems while maintaining cooperation with international partners.
President Mahama argued that the need for structural reform should not be postponed due to geopolitical uncertainty and other major crises. He stated that crisis is precisely when new paradigms are forged, and new ideas and partnerships are born. The Accra Reset report proposes a new approach to global health cooperation built around stronger country ownership, greater control over resources, and deeper international cooperation.
The Ghanaian health sector has identified gaps in emergency obstetric and newborn care, emergency transportation, and the availability of essential maternal health supplies as continuing challenges. A Ministry of Health policy document reported that only a proportion of health facilities had access to emergency transport systems, and the availability of certain lifesaving maternal medicines remained uneven across facilities.
The government has introduced the Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health Emergency Response, known as PRIMER, as part of efforts to confront maternal deaths and strengthen emergency responses for pregnant women. The Ministry of Health has also launched the Free Primary Healthcare initiative, which includes maternal and child healthcare among the services to be provided at participating community health facilities.
President Mahama has urged that the health reset should move beyond declarations and translate into practical programs and measurable outcomes. He emphasized that health is a human being's most precious possession, and that is why the health sector has been selected as the first battleground for this global reset.
Key points
- Ghana's maternal mortality rate is three times higher than the SDG target.
- President Mahama calls for global health reform to tackle high maternal mortality.
- The Accra Reset initiative aims to reshape global health governance around stronger national capabilities and more effective regional institutions.
