Ghana is shifting away from decades-long reliance on donor support for its healthcare system, unveiling a domestic financing strategy that blends fiscal reform, private sector engagement, and policy innovation.
Speaking at a panel during the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem said the country is recalibrating its health spending framework to respond to the “new normal” of declining aid.
“External aid is no longer a reliable solution,” Ampem said. “We must prioritize prevention, repurpose budgets, and unlock new investment through good governance and innovation.”
The move comes as Ghana absorbs the impact of the abrupt withdrawal of $78 million in U.S. development assistance, which had previously underpinned key interventions in malaria, HIV/AIDS, and child health.
In 2025, allocations to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) jumped to GH¢9.8 billion, a 66% increase over the previous year’s GH¢5.9 billion. Over the next three years, the government plans to spend GH¢49.3 billion on health insurance, nearly four times the GH¢13.2 billion spent between 2021 and 2024.
The funding increase is aimed at pivoting the system toward cost-effective, preventive care. Ampem said the government has scaled up investments in sanitation, nutrition, clean water, and immunization since January 2025, measures that reduce the long-term disease burden and improve productivity across the economy.
But funding alone isn’t enough. Accra is also seeking to modernize how it finances and delivers healthcare, leveraging public-private partnerships and digital tools.
“Being responsive to change is critical,” Ampem said. “We leveraged technology and logistics to close urgent supply gaps and maintain continuity of care.”
The broader ambition is to embed resilience and sustainability into health financing. That includes efforts to boost tax revenue, which currently sits below 13% of GDP across sub-Saharan Africa, by digitalizing administration, reducing leakages, and expanding the tax net.
A centerpiece of this strategy is the newly launched Ghana Medical Trust Fund, branded MAHAMACARES. The fund will cover non-communicable diseases excluded from the NHIS and aims to attract philanthropic and private capital into the health sector.
Still, the deputy finance minister warned that investor appetite hinges on macroeconomic and institutional credibility, areas where much of the continent continues to struggle. Nearly half of Africa’s population now lives in countries experiencing governance deterioration, according to the 2024 Mo Ibrahim Index.
“Without fiscal discipline, we cannot build the systems that attract long-term investment. We must move with urgency, unity, and foresight. This is our opportunity to build resilient health systems for the future,” he said.
