NHIA Progresses On Free Primary Health Care Policy Implementation | 9/1/2025

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), is making progress on the implementation of the government’s flagship Free Primary Health Care (FPHC) policy, seeking to ensure universal access to affordable and quality health services for all residents in Ghana. Since the policy’s introduction, the Authority held series of stakeholder engagements and designed the blueprint, formed a technical team and sub-committees working assiduously to guarantee the policy’s successful implementation.

The NHIA Operations Deputy Chief Executive, Dr. Kwesi Senanu Djokoto chaired a crucial meeting on August 26, 2025, for a review of the progress made. He was satisfied with the work accomplished thus far and emphasized the need to link the policy to the NHIA core mandate of providing financial risk protection against healthcare costs for all residents in Ghana, in line with the global agenda of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.

The NHIA Chief Executive, Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Chris Atim provided an update on the policy's development and commended the taskforce and sub-committee teams for their devotion.

Dr. Anthony Gingong highlighted key areas identified by the taskforce that required further attention. These included the request for a comprehensive training manual, the need for basic training and emergency equipment, ensuring the immediate availability of a service package, establishing a clear and transparent payments mechanism, clarifying the governance structure between the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), defining the nature of referrals and providing a clear distinction between "Mahama Care" and the new Free Primary Healthcare policy.

Representatives of the various Directorates made presentations and demonstrated their commitment to working with the technical team and sub-committees for the successful implementation of the FPHC policy. The collaborative spirit of the meeting underscored the NHIA's dedication to ensuring the new policy is well-structured and effective in its delivery of primary healthcare services to the vulnerable populations.

 

Source: Hamdiya Amadu Yakubu