The Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF), Obuobia Darko-Opoku, has called on health professionals, traditional and religious leaders, the media and other stakeholders to help disseminate information on the Fund’s support programmes to people in need of specialised health care.
She said the success of the Fund depended not only on the availability of resources but also on ensuring that patients and their families understood where to seek assistance, eligibility requirements and the processes involved.
Ms Darko-Opoku made the call at a regional stakeholder engagement in Accra last Thursday, organised as part of a nationwide tour by the GMTF to educate the public on its mandate and interventions and identify priority areas for collaboration in healthcare delivery.
She added that the engagement was aimed at taking information about the Fund beyond government offices and directly to communities, particularly people who might not have access to institutional announcements or public programmes.
“A family caring for someone with a serious chronic illness needs more than encouragement. It needs reliable information, a clear process and, where eligible, practical assistance,” she said.
Engagement
The engagement brought together the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, representatives of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, coordinating directors, health facility managers, religious leaders, civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
Ms Darko-Opoku said although the region had major hospitals, specialists, businesses and national institutions, some families continued to struggle to afford specialised health care.
She said some of the projects being undertaken in the region to strengthen specialised healthcare services included the catheterisation laboratory at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Diagnostic and Imaging Project with KGL at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, and the Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Project at Korle Bu.
She said although the facilities were located in Accra, their impact extended beyond the region as patients from across the country travelled to the capital to access specialised services.
She, therefore, stressed the need to strengthen training capacity across the regions to enable more patients to receive specialised care closer to their homes.
Ms Darko-Opoku urged health professionals to support the Fund by helping patients and families navigate the processes involved in seeking assistance.
She also appealed to traditional and religious leaders to use their trusted positions to reach people who might otherwise remain outside the conversation, while urging the media to provide accurate information on the Fund’s mandate, eligibility requirements and channels for seeking assistance.
The GMTF Administrator further called on businesses and institutions to consider partnerships with the Fund to support patient treatment, improve facilities, equip hospitals and strengthen specialised training.
RCC support
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, pledged the Regional Coordinating Council’s (RCC) support for the Fund and called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to improve healthcare delivery in the region.
She said the establishment of the Fund demonstrated the government’s recognition that access to quality health care required sustained investment, strong partnerships and innovative mechanisms to mobilise additional resources to complement the government’s efforts.
She called for closer collaboration among the GMTF, the RCC, health institutions, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders.
