Ghana’s Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has issued a strong directive to newly inaugurated board members of key health institutions, urging them to take bold action against facilities that fail to meet regulatory standards.
At the swearing-in ceremony on July 10, the Minister underscored the urgency of maintaining safety and quality across the sector, stressing that substandard facilities pose a serious threat to national health and must not be tolerated.
The board members were inaugurated for the following institutions: Health Facilities Regulatory Authority (HeFRA); Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC); National Vaccines Institute (NVI); Center for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR); Mortuary and Funeral Facility Agency (MOFFA).
Minister Akandoh charged the institutions to enforce ethical, safe, and competent care, adding that regulatory bodies should not hesitate to shut down non-compliant facilities.
“To the NVI, be the engine that moves us from vaccine dependency to vaccine sovereignty. Collaborate boldly, think globally, and deliver locally on NMC, let’s make sure the client, the patient, is always our priority,” he said.
“To Center for Plant Medicine and Research, you know that about 70% of Ghanaians believe in herbal medicine. Let Ghana lead in blending tradition with innovation. Turn knowledge into safe, modern therapeutics.”
To MOFFA the way the dead are laid in state can further spread diseases. Some of those facilities are not up to standard. Don’t fear closing them down,” he added.
HeFRA Board Chair, Dr. Belinda Nimako, pledged the board’s commitment to working with health institutions to ensure compliance with national standards.
“Going forward, what you can see is us working with health facilities to come up to the standards that are expected of them,” she said.
MOFFA Chair, Dr Ernest Boakye, vowed to enforce discipline and hygiene in mortuary and funeral operations.
“We’ve seen a lot of videos where undertakers dress up the dead and people are eating with the dead and all that. There should be some form of sensitization. If it doesn’t stop, we will urge the police to arrest such culprits for them to face the law,” he stated.
Dr. Bernice Brempong, member of the National Vaccines Institute, declared the board’s readiness to help Ghana achieve vaccine independence.
“We have the timelines of 2030 when Ghana is exiting from Gavi, so we’re going to work very hard to make sure by that time we are producing our own vaccines and we are self-reliant as a country,” she affirmed.
The Minister concluded by emphasizing the government’s investment in preventive health, announcing the upcoming launch of a pre-primary healthcare programme and a Hepatitis B vaccine rollout in September.
