Six out of every 10 deaths, representing 60.3 percent of all deaths registered in the country in 2022, were males.
On the flip side, 343,913 male births, constituting 50.3 percent of all births, and 333,227 females, representing 49.2 percent of births, were registered, giving the sex ratio of 103 men per every 100 females in 2022.
The highest proportion of registered infants (15.4 percent) were born on Thursday, followed by Wednesday with 15 percent and Sunday with the least number of infant births of 12.9 percent, the birth registration data stated.
According to the Births and Deaths Registration Statistical Report for 2022, 36.7 percent of all registered deaths were caused by the top 11 causes of death. These are hypertension, which represented 36.7 percent, followed by pneumonia, heart failure, acute respiratory failure, stroke, diabetes, severe sepsis, septic shock, chronic liver disease, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.
Apart from cancer, which claimed more female lives, 566, as against 470 men, all the remaining diseases killed more men than women.
Report
The revelations were part of the first-ever Statistical Report on the Births and Deaths Registration put together by the Births and Deaths Registry, launched at a dissemination seminar in Accra yesterday.
The report indicated that the 677,140 infant births registered in 2022 represented an increase of 7.6 percent (47,646 registered births) from the year 2021. On average, 1,855 births were registered daily across the country during the period under review.
Briefing participants in the launch in Accra yesterday, the Head of Statistics, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Births and Deaths Registry, Constance Clara Anani, stated that the registry’s births registration performance for 2022 was 92.7 per cent against the projected 730,537 infant population, using the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) for its projection.
She noted that approximately, seven per cent of the expected births for 2022 remained unregistered.
Deaths
Mrs Anani said 50,992 deaths were registered in 2022, which constituted about 37.8 per cent of projected deaths for the 2022 registration year. “This year’s performance is an improvement over 2021 deaths registration coverage where 17.0 per cent of the projected deaths were registered,” she added.
Six regions: Central, Western North, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Volta and Bono, have a proportion of registered deaths below the male national average of 60.3 per cent, with the Northern Region having the least percentage of registered female deaths of 27.4 per cent.
The southern part of Ghana performed better in death registration than the northern part of the country.
Hospitals
Six out of 10 (60.6 per cent) registered deaths in Ghana occurred in hospitals. Close to five per cent (4.9 per cent) of all registered deaths occurred elsewhere such as drowning, deaths in farms and roadside, among others.
The Greater Accra Region recorded the highest percentage (84.8 per cent) of deaths that occurred in the hospitals followed by North East Region (78.0 per cent). Nine in every 10 (9.6 per cent) registered deaths in the Savannah Region occurred in the house.
Foreigners
Ghanaians constituted 97.5 per cent of all deaths registered, while other West Africans, made up 1.3 per cent of registered deaths, with nationals from the rest of the world constituting 1.2 per cent of the deaths recorded.
Births
When it comes to births, the report said 677,140 infant births were registered across the country in 2022, although the Ghana Health Service (GHS) from its health facilities recorded 792,727 infant births in that year.
A total of 343,913 male births, constituting 50.8 per cent and 333,227 female births (49.2 per cent), were registered across the country, giving a sex ratio of 103 males per every 100 female births.
Out of the 677,140 births registered nationwide, more than a third, 35.9 per cent, occurred in the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions. Registration in the Ashanti, Greater Accra, Northern and Central regions contributed to more than half (53.4 per cent) of all registered births. With 13,921 (2.1 per cent), the Ahafo Region has the least percentage share of total registered births.
Ashanti Region registered 137,887; Greater Accra, 104,610; Northern, 68,329; Ahafo recorded 13,921 Western North, 17,468 and North East, 17,647. Others are Volta Region, 29,436; Oti 18,649; Savannah, 21,198; Upper West, 24,117; Upper East, 29,649, with the Bono and Bono East regions recording 23,187 and 28,824 respectively.
In the Oti Region, 52.7 per cent of all registered births were males. The Ashanti, Greater Accra, Ahafo, Volta, and Western regions have near sex parity in terms of registered births.
The Ashanti and Savannah regions registered more births than was recorded by the GHS in their respective regions. Each region registered at least 80 per cent of the births recorded by the GHS.
Civil registration fundamental
The Registrar of the Births and Deaths Registry, Henrietta Lamptey, emphasised that a well-functioning civil registration system was fundamental to securing reliable, accurate, complete and timely statistics.
She added that such a system also required frequent reviews to align the system’s functions to the contemporary development needs of the citizens. “Civil registration has witnessed a tremendous change following its introduction under the Cemeteries Ordinance of 1888.
The Cemeteries Ordinance of 1888 permitted the registration of only the deaths of expatriate workers,” Ms Lamptey added. She explained that since then, civil registration had evolved through a series of amendments until the promulgation of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1965 (Act 301).
Ms Lamptey stated that Act 301 was operational for 55 years before it was repealed and replaced with The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act 1027). “This new Act also established the Births and Deaths Registry as a department under the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development,” the Registrar stated.
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