Deputy Minister for Health and Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan, Grace Ayensu-Danquah, has announced that government will launch a nationwide free primary healthcare policy in April, alongside a comprehensive retooling of hospitals across the country.
According to her, under the new policy, every Ghanaian who enters the healthcare system at the primary level will receive services free of charge.
Speaking on TV3 Ghana as monitored by NewsDesksGH on February 26, she said,
“We’re going to be launching our free primary health care. That means that every Ghanaian that enters the health system, from the CHPS compound to the health centre to the polyclinic, will enter the system for free.”
She explained that this will be at the cost of the Government and noted that the policy will be rolled out in April 2026.
“It’s not free to the government but it’s free to the patient. They’re going to get free healthcare services,” she said.
The Deputy Minister further revealed that government has begun an extensive nationwide retooling exercise across all levels of the health system, from top referral hospitals to Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds.
“We are retooling all the hospitals. In other words, buying the equipments that the nation needs. At least the top referral hospitals, as well as the CHPS compounds and the health centres, as part of our Free Primary Healthcare system. We are retooling the entire country.”
According to her, findings from a recent needs assessment exposed alarming gaps in medical infrastructure.
“Some of the hospitals that we found, we were just shocked. The equipment, the amount of mammograms in the country, the MRI, the lack of cardiac centres.”
She noted that the last comprehensive nationwide retooling exercise took place in 2015 and stressed that urgent intervention is required.
“Ambulance services will be retooled, the hospitals, the emergency rooms will be retooled, and needed equipment will come into the country and we will place them in the right places.”
Ghana’s healthcare system is currently under intense public and political scrutiny following the death of 29-year-old engineer Charles Amissah.
He sadly died after being transferred between Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital), and the Police Hospital, all of which turned him away due to a lack of available beds.
The incident has sparked nationwide outrage and renewed debate about the state of emergency healthcare delivery in the country.
