The Builsa North Municipal Health Directorate in the Upper East Region has recorded 100% postnatal care coverage across all six sub-municipalities in the first half of 2026, marking a major improvement in maternal and newborn healthcare delivery.
Municipal Director of Health Services, Cabral Vwawojei Bantiu, announced the achievement during the Directorate’s half-year performance review meeting, held on the theme: “From Policy to Practice: Leveraging Stakeholder and Partner Support to Achieve Universal Health Coverage through Free Primary Health Care.”
Mr Bantiu attributed the performance to the commitment of frontline health workers to ensuring that mothers and newborns receive essential care after delivery.
“I am pleased to report that Postnatal Care performance has been outstanding. The Municipality achieved 100 per cent postnatal care coverage during the first half of 2026, with every sub-municipality recording complete coverage,” he said.
Despite the strong postnatal care performance, the Directorate identified early antenatal registration as a major area requiring urgent attention.
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Only 51.4% of pregnant women registered for antenatal care during their first trimester, representing a slight decline compared to the previous year.
He therefore called for intensified community education to encourage more pregnant women to begin antenatal care during the first trimester.
The municipality nevertheless recorded significant gains in other maternal healthcare indicators. Anaemia screening among pregnant women reached 99.4%, while the proportion of women who completed at least four antenatal visits increased to 84.4%.
The improvements in antenatal attendance also contributed to better malaria prevention during pregnancy, with coverage for the third dose of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT3) rising to 79.4%.
IPT5 coverage, however, stood at 40.4%, a figure Mr Bantiu said remained below the desired level and required additional interventions to ensure pregnant women completed all recommended doses.
Family planning uptake also improved marginally, with the municipal acceptor rate increasing from 40.2% in 2025 to 41.5% during the review period.
Mr Bantiu further described the government’s Free Primary Health Care policy as an important step towards achieving Universal Health Coverage, stressing that effective implementation would depend on strong collaboration among stakeholders.
He called on partners and stakeholders to strengthen cooperation, accountability and innovation to sustain the gains made and address the remaining gaps in maternal and child healthcare.
