The Accra Metropolitan Health Directorate (AMHD) has held its 2025 District Health Annual Review Conference, urging stronger partnerships and governance systems to advance safety, quality, and improved service delivery across the metropolis.

The conference, held on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at the Omanye Aba Hall, brought together the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, the Presiding Member, Hon. Musah Ziyad, Assembly Members, traditional and religious leaders, heads of departments, medical superintendents, facility managers, development partners and the media.

Reviewing the year under assessment, The Metro Health Director, Dr Louisa Ademki Matey said 2025 had been particularly demanding for the Metro Health Service, which, aside from routine service delivery, responded to two major disease outbreaks, cholera and Mpox.

She reported that the cholera outbreak, which began in October 2024, ended in February 2025 with 66 cases out of which two deaths were recorded.

Dr Matey attributed the cholera outbreak to factors including poor environmental sanitation, weak personal hygiene practices, inadequate household and community waste management, poor toilet facilities and limited access to clean water.

Regarding Mpox, she stated that the outbreak began in May 2025 and cases continued to increase until December 2025, when a specialised vaccination exercise was conducted within the metropolis.

She reported that 57 persons were affected with no deaths, and indicated that four new cases had already been recorded in 2026 as of the date of the conference, adding that the low mortality recorded during the outbreaks was evidence of improved patient care and coordinated emergency response, and commended health teams for sustaining quality clinical management under pressure.

Touching on staffing, she said management was engaging the Regional Director of Health Services to help bridge human resource gaps, and stressed that Accra’s facilities served residents beyond the metropolis and therefore required special attention in allocations.

Dr Matey said the Metro’s service delivery challenges extended beyond staffing, citing ageing infrastructure at the Princess Marie Louise (PLM) Hospital, which she said had deteriorated and was affecting output, as well as a stalled Ussher Hospital expansion project since 2025.

Despite the challenges, she said the directorate would continue engaging stakeholders, including the Assembly, to support infrastructure development for PML and Ussher hospitals, prioritise customer care and safety, and ensure Assembly-level health budget allocations were properly utilised.

Dr Matey said that although the Metro Health Service had performed strongly overall, finishing 2025 as a high-performing district with a score of 4.59 out of 5, several indicators remained worrying.

She cited maternal mortality as significantly above target at 498 per 100,000 live births, compared to a national expectation of 125 per 100,000, alongside a stillbirth rate of 23 per 1,000 births and low first-trimester antenatal care attendance of 35 per cent against a 55 per cent target.

The review also touched on service delivery performance, disease outbreaks, HIV and TB, non-communicable diseases, mental health, teenage pregnancy, human resource gaps, infrastructure and equipment challenges, customer care, partnerships, and priorities for improving quality healthcare in Accra.