Healthcare leaders and policy experts have called for a deliberate, data-driven approach to strengthen Ghana’s health system, stressing that sustainable financing, a well-trained workforce, and improved social infrastructure are critical to delivering equitable services for all citizens.
Speaking at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons’ third Presidential Public Lecture in Accra on August 6, 2025, themed “Building a Resilient Healthcare System That Works for All”, with sub-themes “Building a Resilient Workforce: Funding Postgraduate Medical Education” and “Healthcare Service Provision: Who Pays?”, the speakers emphasised that health outcomes are influenced by far more than medical care alone.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lister Hospital and Fertility Centre, Dr Edem Fiadzi, underscored the need for Ghana’s health sector to adopt a balanced approach that addresses both preventive and curative care, while ensuring that critical social determinants such as housing, nutrition, and education are not overlooked.
Dr Fiadzi argued that the health system’s burden from infectious diseases continues to divert resources away from other pressing conditions such as infertility and non-communicable diseases.
“If you send a request to the NHIA to pay for infertility tests, it often gets rejected because more people are dying from malaria and typhoid,” he said. “We must still recognise that infertility is a disease and address it alongside other priorities.”
He emphasised that a resilient health system should cater to citizens “from childhood through adulthood”, with prevention at its core, and called for improved funding to complete stalled projects, address workforce shortages, and retain skilled professionals in the country.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Operations) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr Kwesi Senanu Djokoto, expanded on the World Health Organisation’s framework for strengthening health systems, highlighting six key building blocks: service delivery, health workforce, health information systems, access to medicines and vaccines, financing, and leadership/governance.
He stressed that health outcomes are influenced not only by the availability of hospitals and staff but also by the broader socio-economic environment, including agriculture, transport, housing, and the economy.
“You can have the best doctors, but without medicines or vaccines, the system fails,” Dr Djokoto, who represented the Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA, Dr Victor Bampoe, noted, adding that adequate financing is critical to sustaining all other components.
Dr Djokoto further contended that the government’s flagship Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) policy and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, popularly known as Mahama Cares, are designed to accelerate the country’s progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030, addressing major shortfalls in the system.
“The depth of our coverage, including screening for diseases like hypertension and diabetes, has not been the best. Many chronic conditions, such as cancers, remain gaps in our health system. The Ghana Medical Trust Fund and the Free Primary Healthcare policy are designed to fill these two gaps, ultimately helping the country attain UHC,” he said.
His view was supported by a representative of the Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who stated that the future of the NHIS depended on sustainable financing, efficient resource use, and bold innovations.
Dr Fiadzi and Dr Djokoto, who later formed part of a panel discussion, agreed that improving financing could have the most immediate impact, enabling better service delivery, staffing, and supply of medicines.
They also called for stronger leadership at all levels, with merit-based appointments and political commitment to health reforms.
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