Bawku conflict: 27 pregnant women die over inability to access hospital

A senior health officer at the Upper East Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Majeed Sulemana, has revealed that 27 women died in the Bawku municipality due to the conflict in the area.

According to him, the deaths which occurred between 2021 and 2022 were caused by the inability of the women with critical medical conditions to receive care.

According to a Graphic report, 20 pregnant women died in 2021 while 7 died by the end of December last year.

“This is as a result of the inability of the pregnant women to visit and receive medical care at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, the only major referral health facility in the heart of the municipality,” he said.

He further explained that the Bawku Hospital served patients from the municipality and others from the Pusiga, Garu, Tempane and Binduri districts due to the absence of district hospitals in those districts’ areas.

He said aside from the inability to get to the hospital, some pregnant women who managed to get to the hospital still passed on because of the limited number of staff, which resulted in delays in administering the required medical care.

He noted that the security situation in the Bawku municipality was very disturbing and an impediment to the delivery of quality health care to patients, especially pregnant women, children and the aged. The senior health officer also raised concerns with regards to the staff of the hospital.

He said those who lived among Mamprusis and Kusasis in their communities, put the lives of the health workers at risk, stressing that “some of the health staff are seen to be sympathisers of the feuding parties, since they stay with them”.

“This has made it very difficult for such staff to come out of their homes to work, since they fear for their lives, a development which continues to have a negative toll on the operations of the hospital,” Mr Sulemana lamented.

He added that due to the increased insecurity in the municipality, there was high demand for transfer among staff to leave the municipality to work in health facilities in other districts.

“Definitely, there is high demand for transfer among staff, but if you want to grant everyone, there will not be any staff to work in the hospital,” he pointed out.

YNA/WA