GOMOA FETTEH, Ghana. Ghana’s nursing leaders have called for an urgent rethink of how the country trains and deploys specialist nurses and midwives, after the Ghana Health Service reported a sharp rise in maternal deaths in hospitals.
The numbers
- Institutional maternal mortality rose from 535 to 985 per 100,000 live births in 2025, according to Dr Eva Mensah, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Ghana Health Service.
- Non-communicable diseases account for about 43% of all deaths.
- Ghana’s staffing norms were set in 2014 and revised in 2015. Dr Mensah said the health workforce strategy needs an urgent review.
What the Health Minister wants
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh told the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives’ annual meeting that specialist training must be linked to deployment, equipment and career progression. He said specialists should be sent where the disease burden is highest, so patients don’t have to travel to big cities. He named:
- Emergency and critical care
- Oncology and renal care
- Mental health
- Neonatal, maternal and newborn health
“Caring for the workforce is therefore part of caring for the patient,” he said. He added that Free Primary Healthcare, launched in April 2026, the NHIS and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (Mahama Cares) all need more specialists.
The paradox
Ghana says many trained health workers are unemployed, and is now sending nurses to Grenada, Jamaica and the US. At the same time, its hospitals lack the specialist midwives and critical care nurses needed to stop women dying in childbirth.
Sources: Ghana News Agency (8 October 2026); Ghanaian Times (8 October 2026).