Health Indicators
Programs
Download PDFSummary: Phase 2. Initial implementation supported by implementation research
Ghana has made notable gains in economic and social development in the past two decades, with the government prioritizing human capital and maternal and child health in national development plans. The Global Nutrition Report shows that Ghana has made some progress in reducing anemia among women of reproductive age and lowering the prevalence of low birth weight. However, the burden of anemia persists and remains elevated.
Anemia during pregnancy is one of the key factors that impacts birth outcomes. Thus, the high prevalence of anemia among pregnant women could reflect on the national birth outcomes. The data available from the World Health Organization Global Health Observatory show that the stillbirth rate is 19.4 per 1,000 total births in 2023, the prevalence of pre-term birth is 8% in 2020. Likewise, 14.4% of children were born with low birthweight in 2020, and infant mortality rate was 28.17 in 2023.
Ghana has implemented various interventions to tackle anemia. One of the key interventions is supplementation with iron and folic acid (IFA) along with fortification and deworming activities. Although studies have found that adherence and effective coverage are relatively high, the impact has been limited, as evident by the high prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in Ghana. While Ghana relies on IFA supplementation, multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) is evidently a cost-effective approach to achieve comparable protection against maternal anemia while delivering additional reductions in low birthweight, small-for-gestational age and stillbirths compared to IFA alone.