Ghana’s Ministry of Health has announced that the much-anticipated Free Primary Healthcare Policy will be piloted in approximately one hundred deprived districts across all sixteen regions beginning the first week of April, in a major step toward achieving Universal Health Coverage.
The policy, which removes user fees at the point of care, is designed to expand access to essential health services with a strong emphasis on preventive, promotive and basic curative care. Vulnerable populations in underserved communities are expected to be the primary beneficiaries.
Addressing stakeholders at a media and civil society engagement on February 6, 2026, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh outlined the government’s targeted approach.
“Our target is the deprived communities, deprived districts, in every region, we are going to identify the deprived district. We are not going to limit it to the five northern regions. We will select deprived districts and roll them out. We are not going above one hundred districts to start with.”
The Minister also clarified that access to the free service would not be contingent on holding a National Health Insurance Scheme card. Instead, any form of identification confirming Ghanaian citizenship or residency—such as a passport, voter ID card or NHIS card—would suffice for registration.
However, he explained that the free care applies only at the primary level. Patients requiring referral for specialist or higher-level care would need an active NHIS subscription to cover those costs. This, he said, presents an opportunity to sensitise the public on the value of enrolling in the scheme.
“It is not as though because there is free primary healthcare, the National Health Insurance Scheme is useless,” Mr Akandoh stressed.
The NHIS is expected to play a central role in the policy’s implementation, reflecting the government’s broader strategy to strengthen financial protection and improve service quality across the country.
While civil society organisations have welcomed the initiative, some have raised questions about the criteria used to define a deprived district. The Vice Chairman of the Greater Accra Coalition of NGOs in Health noted that deprivation is not limited to rural areas and that urban centres also contain underserved communities that should not be overlooked.
The Ministry has indicated that further stakeholder consultations will be held to refine the rollout plan and ensure that implementation is both effective and equitable.
Source: 3news.com
