Pregnant Women Craving Ayilo May Be Severely Anaemic - Deputy Health Minister Warns

Deputy Health Minister and Member of Parliament for Esikado-Ketan, Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah, has cautioned that pregnant women who crave and eat white chalk and kaolin clay, popularly known as _ayilo_, may be showing signs of severe anaemia.

Dr. Ayensu-Danquah gave the warning when she appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on October 19, 2026, during the consideration of the Ministry of Health's accounts.

According to her, the craving known medically as pica, where pregnant women eat non-food substances, is a classic sign of severe iron deficiency and must be taken seriously at the primary healthcare level.

"When a woman is pregnant and she's eating that white chalk, sometimes they are eating ayilo, it's called pica. It's a sign of severe anaemia," she told the Committee.

The Deputy Minister explained that anaemia contributes significantly to maternal mortality, as haemorrhage remains the number one cause of maternal deaths in Ghana. She noted that if a woman is already severely anaemic and loses even 100 milliliters of blood during delivery, she is put in a life-threatening situation where blood transfusion becomes critical.

She stressed the need for sustainable domestic funding for maternal health, appealing to the Committee to provide a dedicated budget line for maternal health.

"We need domestic funding to fund our maternal health. We are pleading with your committee to actually give us a line item in the budget for maternal health. It is only when we have sustainable funding that is domestically funded can we solve this problem, otherwise by 2030 we won't meet any of these criteria," she said.

Dr. Ayensu-Danquah said many cases of anaemia can be addressed early at the primary care level through education and improved nutrition, including iron-rich foods like kontomire and other local meals, as well as supplemental foods to boost blood levels.

She reminded the Committee that blood is a commodity that cannot be bought off the shelf, as someone has to donate it.

"If we are able to do that at the primary care level, we can address these low-hanging fruits so that when she goes to delivery and she loses 100 MLs of blood she's not already in trouble and now we are looking for blood," she added.