Ghana’s pursuit of universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030 received a significant boost with the introduction of an eight-year financing strategy for the nation’s health system.
Dubbed the Ghana Health Financing Strategy (2023-2030), this comprehensive plan aims to tackle persistent health financing challenges hindering the country’s health-related objectives.
The unveiling of this strategic document follows the formulation of a roadmap designed to guide Ghana’s progress toward achieving UHC.
The strategy, emphasizing efficiency and expenditure management while addressing critical revenue issues, was jointly launched by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) at the ministry’s headquarters in Accra last Friday.
Primary health care
In a speech delivered on his behalf by the Chief Director, Alhaji Hafiz Adam, at the Ministry, Dr. Okoe Boye explained that the strategy aimed to strengthen the purchasing of primary healthcare services at lower levels, enhance provider autonomy, management, and accountability in receiving and utilizing funds.
He noted that the strategy aligned not only with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also with the Principles of the African Union Agenda 2063, the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being, the Declaration on Primary Health Care in Astana (2018), the UHC 2030 Compact, the UHC 2030 Initiative, and the Political Declaration of UHC adopted at
“The strategy responds to international standards which require that the financing system should be specifically designed to provide all people with access to the needed health, including prevention, promotion, treatment and rehabilitation of sufficient quality, and ensure that users are not exposed to financial hardship,” he said.
He further stated that the ministry had initiated the implementation of the strategy, revealing that it had already revised the essential health services package to encompass additional preventive measures and other non-communicable diseases in the benefit package for execution.
Moreover, he mentioned that the National Health Insurance Scheme tariff review was in progress, and the implementation of the Network of Practice (NoP), which aimed to restructure service delivery at the grassroots level to ensure quality care, was also ongoing.
Timely
For his part, the Officer in charge of the WHO Country Office, Dr Frank John Lule, described the launch as timely since it came at the time the country was rolling out key strategies towards achieving UHC.
“As development partners, we are happy to note that the revised health financing strategy seeks to provide practical guidance and solutions to financing primary health care in Ghana.
He stressed that development partners would remain committed to assisting the government to build a resilient health system that placed sustainable financing at the centre of health delivery.