Editorial: PRIMER Must Deliver On Maternal Deaths

The launch of the Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health Emergency Response (PRIMER) by the Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, is a welcome and timely intervention in Ghana’s long-running struggle with maternal mortality.

Launched on Monday, September 14, 2026 at the Dome of the Alisa Hotel in Accra, PRIMER treats maternal mortality as a national emergency. The initiative has a five-year mandate and seeks to reduce preventable maternal deaths, as Ghana works towards the Sustainable Development Goal target of fewer than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.

Under the theme, “No Woman Should Lose Her Life While Giving Life,” the initiative brings together several sectors to address the factors that contribute to maternal deaths.

The Chronicle welcomes the initiative because maternal mortality has remained a serious burden on Ghana’s health system, depriving families of mothers who entered health facilities to give birth but never returned home.

The challenge is particularly disturbing because many of the leading causes of maternal deaths are preventable or treatable when detected and managed promptly. Severe bleeding, hypertensive disorders such as pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, infections and sepsis, complications from unsafe abortions and indirect conditions such as severe anaemia and malaria can become fatal when appropriate care is delayed.

The problem, therefore, goes beyond the availability of skilled health personnel. Shortages of essential medicines and equipment, inadequate blood supplies, weak referral systems and delays in transporting critically ill patients can turn otherwise manageable complications into tragedies.

Poverty and other social factors can compound the problem. Some expectant mothers struggle to meet transportation and other costs associated with seeking care, while reliance on unregulated traditional remedies or delayed recourse to formal healthcare can further increase risks.

PRIMER is, therefore, right to adopt a multi-sectorial approach. The initiative cannot succeed if responsibility for maternal deaths is placed solely on health facilities while critical bottlenecks involving roads, transportation, communication, water and energy remain unresolved.

We are particularly encouraged by the decision to integrate the Maternal Mortality Reduction Accelerated Action and Response Programme (MMARP) into PRIMER as a clinical and operational component. Existing interventions should not be abandoned or unnecessarily duplicated. Rather, PRIMER should strengthen what is already working and close the gaps that have persisted.

The Vice President has also stressed the importance of clearly defined targets, responsibilities and reporting arrangements. This is crucial. A national emergency requires measurable outcomes, regular monitoring and consequences for persistent failures.

The government must, therefore, ensure that the initiative is adequately and sustainably financed. Hospitals and other health facilities must be equipped to manage obstetric emergencies, while referral systems must be strengthened so that women requiring specialised care can reach appropriate facilities without dangerous delays.

There must also be sustained community mobilisation. Chiefs, queen mothers, religious leaders, traditional authorities, transport operators and other community actors can help encourage early antenatal attendance, prompt reporting of danger signs and timely transportation to health facilities.

Most importantly, PRIMER must not become another well-intentioned government programme whose impact diminishes after its launch. Maternal mortality requires sustained political commitment and strict supervision at every level.

The Chronicle commends the government for declaring maternal mortality a national emergency. But the real test of PRIMER will not be the quality of its launch or the strength of its policy document. It will be measured by the number of mothers who survive childbirth.

Every preventable maternal death is a tragedy for a family and a failure that the country must confront. PRIMER must, therefore, translate political commitment into measurable action and ensure that no Ghanaian woman loses her life while giving life.

 

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