President Akufo-Addo has launched a revised edition of Ghana’s National Health Policy (NHP) with the aim of ensuring a healthy life for all Ghanaians.
The policy context and framework, according to the Ministry of Health, derives inspiration from the Directive Principles of State Policy of the 1992 Constitution, which among others requires the State to ensure the realisation of the right to good healthcare for people living in Ghana, irrespective of colour, race, geographical location, religion, and political affiliation.
Essentially, the revised National Health Policy has five objectives: to strengthen the healthcare delivery system to be resilient, to encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyles, to improve the physical environment, to improve the socio-economic status of the population and to ensure sustainable financing for health. These objectives, the Health Ministry believes will ensure that “there will be improved alignment, complementarity and synergies within and across all public sector Ministries as well as with other stakeholders, towards achieving the National health goal”.
President’s endorsement
President Akufo-Addo said his government “endorses fully the approach of the Ministry of Health to shift the paradigm of health service delivery through the revised national health policy.”
“I want to make a passionate appeal to all ministries, departments and agencies, as well as other stakeholders to uphold the tenets of this policy and provide the needed leadership and support for its effective implementation for better health outcomes and an improved quality of life for all,” Akufo-Addo admonished.
“Government is committed to the implementation of this policy. Agenda 111 which seeks to build district hospitals in districts without hospitals in the course of the next 12 months in addition to the establishment of three Infectious Disease Control Centres for the northern, middle of southern belts of our country and the Ghana Centre for Disease Control which will help ensure that our country is better prepared to handle future pandemics,” the president added.
The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, in his remarks noted that the last national health policy of the country was developed in 2007 and it has guided the delivery of health services in Ghana until the current revision.
“This revised policy offers the whole-of-government and the whole-of-society approach to delivering holistic, comprehensive, equitable, affordable and responsive services towards better quality of life for the people of our country,” the health minister stated.
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