In 2023, the country and the world were still recovering from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
The health sector, the worst affected in the country, is still recovering with many interventions and initiatives, some of which include the government’s Agenda 111 projects.
One of the country’s pillars in achieving quality health care is achieving the goal of Universal Health Coverage and the country has identified Primary Health Care (PHC) as one of the key strategies to implement the UHC roadmap in Ghana .
With this review, the Daily Graphic seeks to shine a spotlight on some of the most important events in the industry in 2023.
January amnesty for auxiliary nurses
Nursing assistants who studied for higher certificates without prior government approval were given an amnesty in January 2023.
As a result, nurses who actually obtained registered nurse certificates and their equivalents were upgraded from adjunct to nurse practitioner status.
Global Fund
The Global Fund has allocated $234 million to Ghana to strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria from 2023 to 2025.
The grant was also to help the country build resilient and sustainable health systems.
After receiving the letter of allocation, the Fund’s Regional Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), chaired by the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, embarked on the mandatory stakeholder dialogue series to solicit inputs at the national level for better delivery of the grant.
February malaria vaccine
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched the National Expansion of the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Program in Sunyani, the regional capital of Bono, to help eliminate malaria by 2030.
It was on the theme: “Malaria vaccine for added protection”.
It was done in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), among others.
March
Initiation of Public Health Strategic Plan
The Ministry of Health has launched a national plan to strengthen public health emergency response through human resource restructuring.
Known as the Public Health Strategic Plan, the five-year strategy outlines guidelines for addressing major barriers to responding to public health emergencies, such as the distribution and recruitment of human resources.
Over 500,000 live with glaucoma
More than 500,000 Ghanaians live with glaucoma, with more than 90 percent of the number permanently blinded by the preventable and treatable eye condition.
The Ophthalmological Society of Ghana (OSG), which disclosed this, said the prevalence rate of eight in 100 people sampled in the country made Ghana’s burden the second highest in the world, after Barbados.
NHIA receives US$5 million in support
The United States provided $5 million in financial support under a collaboration agreement with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to improve the performance of the National Health Insurance System (NHIS) and ensure the quality of health services.
The agreement to this effect was signed in Accra to launch the programme, which also ensured the digitization of NHIA’s processes to make its performance data available and ensure that health service delivery was safe and effective.
The program is expected to provide $1.7 million in matching funding to support the partnership for five years.
April Bono East acquires a medical store
The Bono East Regional Minister, Kwasi Adu-Gyan, in April 2023 inaugurated the refurbished Bono East Regional Medical Store to improve the medical supply chain and health outcomes in the region.
The upgraded 13-room facility, which had been abandoned for more than 10 years, now has a quarantine zone, administrative rooms and offices for store managers, accounts and Regional Supply Managers.
The facility, which served as the oldest Brong Ahafo medical store, was abandoned after the then regional medical store was moved to Sunyani.
FDA Approves New R21 Malaria Vaccine
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval for the R21 malaria vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
The vaccine was manufactured by Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd, and submitted through local agent DEK Pharmaceutical Ghana.
Ghana became the first country to be given marketing authorization for the vaccine.
Veep launches probe lab for KBTH
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, inaugurated a newly constructed catheter laboratory for the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra and urged the hospitals to consider partnerships with private entities willing to provide and maintain such equipment on a fee-for-service basis a public private partnership.
The multi-million dollar lab, which was funded by the Bank of Ghana as part of its corporate social responsibility, features a large detector, Dyna CT software and roadmap, as well as a 3D workstation.
May Nation records decline in neonatal and maternal mortality
There was a reduction in neonatal and institutional maternal mortality in the country.
While the former fell from 7.1 per 10,000 births to 6.5 per 10,000 births in 2021, the institutional maternal mortality ratio (IMMR), also fell marginally from 111 per 100,000 births to 102 per 100,000 over the period.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, who made this known, said although the figures appeared marginal, they were remarkable gains.
UGMC begins
NCD Saver APP
A digital application that allows patients to remotely enter their daily blood pressure and blood sugar readings for real-time monitoring and management by doctors has been launched by the University of Ghana Medical Center (UGMC), in partnership with the Foundation PharmAccess and a medical software company, Luscii.
Named ‘NCD Service APP’, the program will mainly support hypertensive and diabetic patients with self-management tools to access healthcare services without necessarily frequent hospital visits.
It also aims to monitor and reduce morbidity related to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the country.
June TTH acquires new pediatric theatre, CT
A new CT scanner and children’s theater has opened at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to offer specialized surgery and care to children.
An initiative of the International Child Cleft Foundation, Smile Foundation and KidOR, the pediatric theater furnished with state-of-the-art equipment is adapted to meet the surgical needs of children.
The facility is expected to improve the delivery of pediatric healthcare at the hospital which serves as a major referral center in northern Ghana.
The new CT scan is also expected to complement the existing one which is often damaged due to the pressure.
National Health Summit
Participants at this year’s national health summit were asked to submit proposals for how the nation can mobilize resources domestically for sustainable health care financing.
Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said this funding was key to delivering Universal Health Coverage by 2030.
“We believe this commitment can be achieved through strategic investments in primary health care (PHC) programs,” he said.
The three-day summit was themed: “Sustainable Financing for Primary Health Care (PHC) to Achieve Universal Health Coverage in Ghana: Role of Stakeholders”.