President Akufo-Addo Monday evening outdoored a revised edition of Ghana’s National Health Policy (NHP).
This is aimed at ensuring a healthy life for all Ghanaians.
The policy context and framework derives inspiration from the Directive Principles of State Policy in Article 34 (2) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, 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.
The revised National Health Policy has five (5) 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.
Government believe these objectives would 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” as stated by the Ministry of Health.
Speaking at the launch of the policy in Accra, President Akufo-Addo said his eovernment “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”, was his charge.
To that end, he said “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 twelve (12) months in addition to the establishment of three (3) 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.”
On his part, the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said the last national health policy of the country was developed in the 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.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent