Ghana’s President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama has on Wednesday, April 15, officially launched the flagship Free Primary Healthcare Programme at the Shai Osudoku District Hospital in the Greater Accra Region.
This ambitious initiative is designed to expand access to essential medical services across the country, marking a transformative milestone in Ghana’s healthcare delivery framework.
According to President Mahama, the policy is strategically structured to remove financial barriers at the initial point of care.
This ensures that citizens, particularly those residing in underserved communities, can seek medical attention without the burden of upfront costs.
Furthermore, the implementation is expected to enhance early diagnosis, improve preventive care, and improve community-level interventions, which will subsequently alleviate the mounting pressure on secondary and tertiary health facilities.
The programme, which carries an estimated annual cost of GH¢1.2 billion, will initially roll out across 150 underserved districts. Supported by a planned network of 350 health kiosks nationwide, the project aims to fundamentally re-engineer the way healthcare is delivered to the Ghanaian people.
To facilitate this transition, the Ministry of Health has commenced the deployment of over 24,000 pieces of essential medical equipment to ensure that Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds and health centres are fully equipped to provide high-quality care.
During his keynote address in Accra, President Mahama explained that primary healthcare services under this initiative will be provided entirely free of charge at the community level.
He noted that basic screenings and treatments for prevalent illnesses, such as malaria and cholera, will be managed at CHPS compounds at no cost to the patient. Under this new protocol, patients will only be referred to higher-level facilities when their condition necessitates specialised intervention.
President Mahama clarified the synergy between the new policy and existing frameworks, stating, “The Free Primary Healthcare complements the National Health Insurance, and so at that level it is free of charge. You go, the screening, everything is free of charge. If it is a basic illness like malaria, your CHPS compound will have the medication for malaria. If it is a basic illness like cholera, your CHPS compound will have the basic drugs for you.”
He further elaborated that cases requiring more advanced diagnostic or therapeutic care, such as persistent high blood sugar, would be transitioned to district-level facilities where patients can then utilise their National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards.
Elaborating on this process, he said, “But if they take your blood sugar and your blood sugar is high, you can change it with diets, but if it persists, then they will have to refer you to the district level, and at the district level you will use your National Health Insurance card to get the treatment and the drugs you require.”
In his concluding remarks, the president emphasised that the two systems are designed to work in tandem to create a comprehensive safety net for all Ghanaians.
“So the free primary healthcare is complementary to the national health insurance. It is not coming to replace it; it is coming to complement it,” he added.
