A recently published Statistical Report by the Births and Deaths Registry sheds light on a concerning issue: approximately 2,099 births, constituting 0.3 percent of all registered births in Ghana, are categorized as doubtful paternity cases.
These cases refer to instances where the father’s identity is either unknown or remains uncertain.
The report, providing a thorough examination of birth registrations across Ghana’s diverse regions, underscores regional disparities in these doubtful paternity cases.
The Upper East region tops the list with the highest percentage of such cases, making up 0.8 percent of all registered births in that area. Following closely is the Central region, where 0.7 percent of births fall under the doubtful paternity category.
Conversely, certain regions exhibit significantly lower rates of doubtful paternity cases. The Upper West, Bono East, Ashanti, Savannah, Northern, and North East regions collectively report that almost all registered births, accounting for 99.9 percent, have established paternity cases. This indicates that the father’s identity is reliably determined and recorded during the birth registration process.
The report also highlights that an impressive 92.7 percent of births that occurred from January 1 to December 31, 2022, were officially registered, totaling 677,140 births documented within that timeframe.
The highest shares of registered births were observed in the Ashanti region (20.4 percent), Greater Accra, and Northern regions.
Encouragingly, 91.7 percent of registered births were attended by trained professionals, with notably high instances of skilled deliveries in the Upper East (98.9 percent), Bono (98.6 percent), and Greater Accra (97.8 percent) regions.
