Category: Health

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has issued a directive to all Regional Directors of Health, emphasizing the urgent need to strengthen disability-friendly healthcare services across hospitals nationwide.

The directive, outlined in a memo from Acting Director-General, Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, calls for immediate action to enhance accessibility and inclusivity for persons with disabilities.

The directive follows a meeting with Regional Directors on February 13, 2025, where the need for disability-friendly facilities was reiterated. Subsequently, GHS engaged with the National Disability Council and the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations to strategize on improving rehabilitation services and integrating essential modifications in healthcare facilities.

Citing Section 33 of the Disability Act, the memo stressed the legal obligation of the Health Service to ensure equal healthcare access for persons with disabilities. This includes structural modifications, prioritizing care for individuals with disabilities, and providing sign language interpreters where necessary.

To implement these changes, Regional Directors have been tasked with activating existing structures within hospitals, ensuring operational social welfare offices, updating peer review checklists to reflect inclusivity, and reorienting disability focal persons at regional and district levels.

Prof. Akoriyea further stated that compliance with these directives will be closely monitored and factored into performance appraisals, signaling GHS’s commitment to making healthcare more accessible and equitable for all.

Former Deputy Minister of Health and Akim-Oda MP, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, has blamed the delay in operationalizing some completed Agenda 111 hospitals on the termination of appointments for health practitioners recruited under the Akufo-Addo administration.

He revealed that although three health facilities have been completed and fully equipped, they remain non-functional due to a shortage of medical personnel.

Speaking to Citi News after President Mahama’s State of the Nation Address, Acquah explained:

“They are not operational because we have to put staff there, and the practitioners we have recruited are the same people they are sacking away.

“So if you are terminating the appointment, GHS will not have the ability to post people to these facilities, but otherwise, we have mentioned that three facilities have been fully completed.

“We have done the tooling, and it is ready to be operated. We have the Trede in Atwima Kwanwoma, we have the Kokoben in Oforikrom, and then we have the Bokro in Ahanta West.”

For years, Kyei, a farmer from Bakokurom, a small town near Sefwi Bekwai, saw healthcare as a luxury he simply couldn’t afford. With three children under his care, even enrolling his family in Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) felt out of reach. “Every time one of them fell sick, I’d pray it wasn’t serious enough for a hospital visit,” he admitted.
But on Wednesday, February 19th, 2024, Kyei’s story and those of hundreds of others in Sefwi Bekwai took a transformative turn.

At Healthfest, a day-long medical outreach by the Telecel Ghana Foundation, he stood in line not as a man burdened by exclusion, but as a father stepping into a new reality of access. By the end of the day, his children were among 359 individuals registered onto the NHIS at no cost, a milestone that symbolized more than just paperwork. For Kyei, it meant easier access to healthcare.

“This is the first time I’ve ever enrolled my family in NHIS,” he said, clutching his registration card. “Now, when my children cough at night, I won’t panic.”

A partnership between Telecel Ghana Foundation, Ghana Health Service and the Divine Mother & Child Foundation (DMAC), Healthfest has long been a lifeline for underserved communities. But in Sefwi Bekwai, the event exposed a deeper truth: for many rural Ghanaians, healthcare isn’t just about affordability, it’s about proximity, trust, and breaking cycles of neglect.

The impact was undeniable as over 500 residents received free screenings for hypertension, diabetes, malaria, typhoid, and hepatitis B. Vital signs were checked, medications were dispensed, and consultations provided. Yet behind the statistics were faces like Margaret Yankey’s, a mother who had endured months of untreated malaria.

“I kept telling myself, ‘It’ll pass,’” she said. “But today, I finally got answers, and free treatment. No more guessing.”

The event’s success hinged on the dedication of healthcare professionals like Rebecca Nkrumah, a physician assistant from St. John of God Hospital, who diagnosed multiple cases of hypertension and diabetes, conditions many patients didn’t realize they had.

“In rural areas, people normalize symptoms until it’s too late,” she explained. “Here, we’re not just treating; we’re rewriting narratives of what healthcare should be.” Midwife Amanda Owusu Serwaa from Greenshield Hospital echoed this, stressing the importance of maternal care in regions with scarce resources.

“When a woman walks miles to reach a clinic, only to be turned away by costs, it’s a systemic failure, and the Telecel Healthfest bridges that gap.” For Telecel Ghana Foundation, the collaboration with the Divine Mother & Child Foundation since 2014 has been a lesson in sustainability. “Healthfest is a testament to what’s possible when partnerships drive meaningful change. By combining DMAC’s grassroots reach with Telecel Ghana Foundation’s commitment, we are creating a future where healthcare is accessible to all,” said Rita Agyeiwaa Rockson, Head of Telecel Ghana Foundation, Sustainability & External Communications.

What makes Healthfest revolutionary isn’t just its scale, but its philosophy: healthcare as a right, not a privilege. By coupling NHIS registrations with immediate care, Telecel Ghana Foundation addresses both urgent and systemic needs. For Kyei, it meant securing his children’s future. For Margaret, it meant reclaiming her health.

Since 2014, Telecel Ghana Foundation has used Healthfest to confront a harsh reality; rural communities often exist in healthcare “blind spots,” where cost, distance, and lack of reliable services create barriers. By bridging these gaps with both immediate interventions and long-term solutions, Telecel is proving that healthcare is not just about treatment, rather it is about transformation.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has responded to a BBC Africa Eye investigation exposing the export of unapproved drugs containing tapentadol and carisoprodol by India’s Aveo Pharmaceuticals to West African countries, including Ghana.

The FDA clarified that it has not registered or approved these substances for medical use in Ghana.

Tapentadol, a potent opioid, and carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant, pose significant health risks, including addiction and severe side effects such as respiratory collapse and confusion.

According to the FDA, its Centre for Import and Export Control has not processed any import permits for these substances, making their presence in Ghana illegal.

In December 2023, authorities intercepted a container bound for Niger, seizing large quantities of unapproved drugs, including 181 cartons of Royal 225mg (Tapentadol and Carisoprodol) and 90 cartons of Tafradol 120mg.

The seized products were destroyed following a court order in January 2025.

The FDA has also taken action against local entities linked to Aveo Pharmaceuticals. Samos Pharma, a registered importer, has been directed to cease collaborations with Aveo Pharmaceuticals and its exporter, Westfin International Private Limited.

Additionally, the FDA has suspended product registration applications from Masters Pharmaceutical Limited, which had engaged Aveo Pharmaceuticals as a contract manufacturer.

These measures underscore the FDA’s commitment to protecting public health by preventing the importation and distribution of unapproved and potentially dangerous pharmaceuticals in Ghana.

Post-Dec 7 Appointments Revocation: “No Nurse Has Gone Home” – GRNMA Assistant PRO
The Assistant Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), says no nurse has been affected by the directive issued by the Chief of Staff, which annulled all public sector appointments made after December 7, 2024.
According to Philemon Agyapong, the directive initially caused unrest among nurses.
However, the Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandah, has since clarified the issue, bringing calm to the situation.

On Monday, February 24, 2025, he assured that no nurse has had his/her appointment annulled.

He explained that following the Chief of Staff’s directive, the Association engaged with the Health Minister, who clarified that nurses who went through due process and obtained financial clearance would not be affected.

“No nurse has gone home as we speak,” Mr. Agyapong stated.

Cholera outbreak registered by the Ghana Health Service in November 2024, the Minister for Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has urged health workers, religious bodies, the media, and other stakeholders to ramp up public education and awareness to stop the spread of cholera.During his visit to the Winneba and Swedru municipal hospitals in the Central Region, the Minister observed a significant decrease in cholera cases, with no deaths recorded in the past three weeks and he conveyed his satisfaction with the hospital’s efforts to set up isolation centers for cholera patients.

Speaking before residents of Winneba, the Minister emphasized the importance of maintaining good hygiene practices, such as eating hot meals, drinking clean water, and washing hands regularly to prevent cholera.He also announced that the government has provided safe and free oral vaccines for cholera prevention, which are available at health facilities in Ablekuma, Awutu, and Cape Coast, emphasizing that the vaccines are safe and added that he had already received his dose publicly in Ablekuma.

The Minister inspired Ghanaians to visit designated health centers to get the free vaccines and urged local radio stations, religious bodies, local government authorities, and the Environmental Protection Agency to support the cholera prevention campaign. He also highlighted the role of health workers, especially those at CHPS, in promoting personal hygiene in marketplaces and community centers.

Assuring Ghanaians that the situation is absolutely under control, the Minister reminded residents to avoid open defecation and indiscriminate disposal of rubbish, as these practices contribute to the spread of cholera. He added that keeping the environment clean and safe is crucial in preventing the disease. The Minister was in the company of the acting Director General of the Ghana Health Service, the WHO country representative, Health Directors, Health Workers and the Media.

It was a hot afternoon on February 7, this year, when Adam Fuseina, a resident of Charikpong in the Nadowli-Kaleo District in the Upper West Region, noticed that her 10-year-old son had developed fever.  

At first, she thought it was just the usual afternoon warm temperature. But within hours, little Salifu Mashud’s (not real name) fever worsened, and he complained of a severe headache and stiffness in his neck. By nightfall, he was unresponsive. She rushed the child to hospital, but the doctors said it was too late. He succumbed to the illness. Mrs. Fuseina said doctors diagnosed the child with cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) at the hospital but all efforts by the health workers to resuscitate him yielded no result.

When he started feeling feverish, I didn’t take it seriously, so I was treating him with some local herbs.” “When we rushed him to the hospital, they told me it was CSM, but they couldn’t manage it because it was too late, I have never heard of that illness before” she narrated. In Lawra, a 35-year-old man, Yussif Alhassan, barely survived CSM last year. “I was fine in the morning, then I started feeling headache and feverish. By the evening, I couldn’t even stand on my feet”. “When I was rushed to hospital, the doctor said if we had delayed a few more hours, I would have lost my life” he recounted to the Daily Graphic.

Mr. Alhassan said although he was lucky to be alive, the disease had left him with partial hearing loss, a common complication of CSM. He and little Yussif are part of many people in the Upper West Region who have fallen prey to the CSM disease. CSM, also known as Meningococcal meningitis, is a bacterial infection that inflames the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It is often caused by viral, fungal or bacterial infection.  Bacterial meningitis is caused by several bacterial pathogens but Neisseria meningitidis (Nm), Streptococcus pneumoniae and Hemophilus influenzae type B represent the triad causing over 80 per cent of all cases of bacterial meningitis.

It spreads through respiratory droplets, making it highly contagious in crowded and poorly ventilated spaces. Symptoms include headache, fever, stiff neck and back, vomiting, joint and muscle pain, drowsiness, light sensitivity and seizures. The disease is endemic in Northern Ghana, particularly in the Upper West Region, during the hottest months of every year, fueled by extreme heat and dry Harmattan winds. The recurrent meningitis outbreaks in Ghana, particularly in the regions of the north, led to the conduct of a mass preventive immunization campaign in the country in 2012 to address the burden of Group A meningococcus, which was accounting for an estimated 80–85 per cent of all cases in the meningitis belt in the country.

The successful immunization programme led to a dramatic decline and the occurrence of meningitis outbreaks due to other Nm serogroups as well as other bacteria which are rather a new concern, a new strain. As of Sunday, February 16, this year, 129 cases had been recorded in the Upper West Region, the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, told Parliament last week. Out of that, 16 deaths have been recorded while 29 individuals are currently receiving treatment at various health facilities, according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

Similarly, the United States’ National Institute of Health Centre for Biotechnology Information indicates that between 2018 and 2020, about 1,176 cases of CSM were recorded in the Upper West Region, with 118 deaths and 1,058 survivors. The Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Demain Punguyeri, identified the most affected districts as Nadowli-Kaleo, Wa Municipal, Wa West, Jirapa and Nandom. He attributed the increasing cases of mortalities to late reporting to health facilities, as most patients often arrived at hospitals in critical conditions, making it difficult for medical staff to provide effective treatment. “Another major challenge is that we have been dealing with a disease that does not transmit easily but it is very deadly, it is not like the previous one that can transmit to many people, so you have to vaccinate,” Dr Punguyeri said. “Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for this strain of disease so all that we have to do is to educate the public on preventive measures and ensure that cases are managed well to ensure the wellbeing of patients”.

Dr Punguyeri indicated that “we are in the early days yet because the period that we are likely to have higher numbers is March, that is when the heat is very high and we expect the transmission to be very high” The GHS estimates that CSM cases spike between November and April, when temperatures in Northern Ghana regularly exceed 40°C (104°F).

Ensign College which offers academic excellence in public health, on its beautiful eco-suitable learning Campus yesterday, Thursday, 14 July 2016 has started its Health 2 GO (H2GO) project in Kpong in the Lower Manya Krobo District, Eastern region.

The programme is based on the world health organisation’s strategy of integrated management of children’s illness (IMCI).  

This pilot programme in partnership with Rick Haskin’s organization; Cast a Pebble, along with University of Utah, Ensign College of Public Health and Ghana Health Service aims to minimize childhood morbidity and mortality in Ghana.

 It hopes to evolve into a nationwide programme building upon its sponsored relationship with Ghana Health services, as it overpasses the gap between the healthcare systems in the community.  

Speaking at the inauguration, the Municipal Director of Health Service, Lower Manya Krobo, in the Eastern Region, Ghana, Mrs. Irina Ofei asserted the community’s delight to be a fraction of the health seeking project.

“The Kpong Sub Municipal and Wawase CHPS zone are delighted to be a part of this (H2GO) project that seeks to improve the health outcomes in the project communities with emphasis on reducing childhood mortality and morbidity.”

Mrs. Irina Ofei said “I want to express our sincere gratitude, and we appreciate every effort, every cent spent on this project and I assure you that we will work very hard to ensure that Health 2 GO project will be fully operational and will achieve its targets and goal.”

H2GO differs from other programs in that it not only promotes education and awareness but also engages the community thus that they are self-sufficient over the long-run.

H2GO will equip community health volunteers with high-quality training, provide each of them with durable bicycles to aid in transportation on very rocky terrains, and a year’s worth of medical supplies so that they are able to reach, asses and treat communities as deemed appropriate.

“Public health is for everybody, public health is about everybody,” Prof. Steve Alder, board member of ENSIGN college notes. “Public health we are global; we think about the whole community. “