The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has engaged a delegation from the Global Fund, led by the Head of the Grant Management Division, Mr Mark Eldon Edington, on measures to improve the availability of essential health commodities and strengthen health programmes in Ghana.
The meeting focused on Ghana’s co-financing commitments, procurement, clearance of health commodities and the sustainability of programmes addressing HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.
Hon. Akandoh expressed appreciation to the Global Fund for its longstanding support to Ghana, while calling for greater alignment of donor-supported programmes with government priorities, particularly the Free Primary Healthcare initiative.
On co-financing, the Minister said Ghana had made significant progress under the Global Fund’s seventh grant cycle (GC7), with about US$38.5 million, representing 85 per cent of the US$45 million commitment, already committed.
He said measures were also being pursued to establish a dedicated budget line for selected health programmes to strengthen sustainable domestic financing.
Mr Edington welcomed the progress but raised concerns about commodity stock-outs, procurement inefficiency and delays in clearing health commodities at the ports. He stressed the need for both immediate and long-term solutions to prevent such challenges from recurring.
In response, Hon. Akandoh said the Ministry had introduced measures to speed up the clearance of commodities, including completing shipping documentation before consignments arrive and increasing competition among clearing agents.
He assured the delegation that the Ministry remained committed to resolving the challenges and ensuring timely availability of essential health commodities to support quality healthcare delivery.
