A global health financing body has launched a US$52.5 million initiative to scale up access to treatments for two of the leading killers of pregnant women in Africa, with Ghana named as one of five primary countries where the programme will operate.
Unitaid announced the investment on March 19, 2026, to introduce and scale up interventions targeting preeclampsia and anemia in pregnant women across seven African countries. The initiative, called SUPREME, pairs Unitaid funding with the expertise of Amref Health Africa and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).
Preeclampsia causes the death of tens of thousands of women and half a million newborns each year. Anemia affects nearly 40 percent of all pregnant women globally and raises the risk of hemorrhage, preterm birth and low birth weight.
The scale of the problem in Ghana is well documented. Parliamentary records show that preeclampsia and eclampsia are among the leading causes of maternal deaths in the country, with 81 percent of pregnancy-related deaths occurring at home or within 24 hours of hospital admission. Ghana’s maternal mortality ratio stands at 801 per 100,000 live births, according to a Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital report cited in parliament.
Treatments Exist. Access Does Not.
The central argument behind SUPREME is that the medical tools to prevent these deaths already exist but consistently fail to reach the women who need them. One such treatment, magnesium sulfate, can cut the risk of life-threatening seizures in women with severe preeclampsia by more than half, yet supply chain gaps, poor-quality medicines, delayed diagnosis and inadequate training continue to limit its use.
Tools covered under the initiative include low-dose aspirin, blood-pressure screening devices, anemia diagnostics and intravenous iron. CHAI will lead efforts to ensure medicines are rigorously tested, reliably supplied and affordably priced. Amref will lead in-country activities and implementation research to guide scale-up within antenatal care systems.
“It is unacceptable that women are still dying from pregnancy complications we know how to treat,” said Dr. Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid. “By accelerating access to both proven tools and new innovations, we can help ensure that women everywhere benefit from the advances in maternal health.”
Coordinated Implementation Across Borders
The initiative will focus primarily on Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal and Tanzania, working with ministries of health to strengthen antenatal care services. Select activities will also take place in Nigeria and South Africa.
Dr. Githinji Gitahi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Amref Health Africa, said the challenge was not the absence of medicines but the failure to deliver them to the right place at the right time. Through SUPREME, he said, the organisation would work with African governments and health workers to embed these tools into routine antenatal care systems.
Beyond product delivery, the programme will also generate data to guide policy decisions and scale-up efforts, while addressing systemic barriers across supply chains.
The SUPREME initiative receives additional funding from the Gates Foundation. SUPREME Secure is led by CHAI with the Concept Foundation, WACI Health, the Aurum Institute and the Burnet Institute. SUPREME Lifelines is led by Amref with Jhpiego, Solthis and Market Access Africa.
