The Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III, has pledged the full support of traditional authorities towards the successful implementation of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF), describing the initiative as a timely intervention that will bring hope and relief to families battling the high cost of specialised healthcare.
He said the Fund represented a significant step towards making life-saving treatment more accessible to Ghanaians living with chronic and non-communicable diseases, particularly those who struggle to afford specialised medical services. Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III gave the assurance when the Administrator of the GMTF, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, paid a courtesy call on him during the Fund’s Eastern Regional sensitisation tour.
He welcomed the decision by the Fund’s management to engage traditional authorities, noting that chiefs and traditional leaders occupied an influential position in their communities and could play a critical role in mobilising public support and educating citizens about the initiative. He described the intervention introduced by President John Dramani Mahama as comparable to healthcare support systems in developed countries and expressed confidence that it would make a meaningful difference in the lives of many Ghanaian families. The Omanhene assured the Administrator of his commitment to supporting the Fund’s activities and mobilising the traditional leadership to help advance its objectives.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Rita Akosua Agyei Awatey, who was present at the meeting, commended the Fund’s management for taking its public education campaign beyond the national capital to engage communities across the country. She observed that the initiative was already making a difference, with families benefiting from relief against the financial burden associated with specialised healthcare.
In her remarks, Ms Darko-Opoku explained that the establishment of the Fund followed a legislative process initiated by President Mahama and culminated in the passage of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Bill into law. She said the Fund was established to provide financial assistance to people living with non-communicable diseases who face significant financial barriers to accessing specialised medical treatment. The Administrator disclosed that, within its first year of operations, the Fund had supported more than 800 patients, demonstrating its commitment to ensuring that financial difficulties did not stand in the way of critical healthcare.
She said management was intensifying public education and decentralising its operations to ensure that more Ghanaians understood the Fund’s mandate, eligibility requirements and procedures for accessing assistance. As part of efforts to improve access, she revealed that patient navigators had been deployed to selected teaching and regional hospitals to guide patients through the application process and connect them to the specialised healthcare services they require. Ms Darko-Opoku also briefed the Omanhene on the Fund’s ongoing infrastructure and healthcare interventions, including the establishment of catheterisation laboratories to strengthen the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Three key tests
The New Juaben Traditional Area has set out three critical expectations for the GMTF, urging the Fund to ease the burden of crippling medical bills, bring specialised healthcare closer to the people and shield families from financial hardship associated with chronic diseases.
The expectations were outlined by the Santahene of New Juaben, Dr Nana Agyeman Boateng Kwagyan I, who represented the Omanhene, Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III, at a town hall meeting in Koforidua during the GMTF's Eastern Regional sensitisation tour. He said the success of the Fund should be measured by its ability to deliver meaningful financial relief to families, improve access to specialised medical treatment regardless of geographical location, and prevent households from being impoverished by the cost of managing non-communicable diseases.
He said such circumstances highlighted the urgent need for an intervention that would ensure that no family was pushed into poverty simply because a loved one needed specialised medical care. He commended President John Dramani Mahama and Parliament for establishing the Fund under Act 1144, describing it as a significant intervention capable of transforming access to specialised healthcare in the country.
Dr Kwagyan also appealed to individuals and corporate organisations to support the Fund, expressing optimism that improved access to treatment for chronic diseases would contribute to longer and healthier lives for Ghanaians. Ms Darko-Opoku called on traditional authorities, the media, market queen mothers and other community leaders to become ambassadors of the Fund by helping to educate the public, identify eligible patients and encourage them to access available support.
The Medical Director of the Eastern Regional Hospital, Dr Sananwie Suntaa Aiden, highlighted the difficulties confronting patients with cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and kidney conditions, noting that many families struggled to afford even basic laboratory investigations. He described the GMTF as a timely intervention and appealed for the provision of a dialysis machine to strengthen the hospital's capacity to manage patients with kidney-related conditions.
The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Damien Puunguyire, also called for collective support for the Fund, while emphasising the need to strengthen primary healthcare and the National Health Insurance Scheme to reduce the pressure on the specialised healthcare financing intervention.
