The Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, has announced significant progress in the implementation of the government’s flagship specialist healthcare intervention programme aimed at supporting Ghanaians battling chronic non-communicable diseases.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series at the Presidency on the operations and vision of the Trust Fund, Madam Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku stated that the initiative, popularly known as “Mahama Cares,” was established to ensure that no Ghanaian is denied access to life-saving specialist healthcare because of financial difficulties.
According to her, President John Dramani Mahama envisioned a healthcare system where illnesses such as kidney failure, cancer, stroke and cardiovascular diseases would no longer become “a poverty sentence for families.”
“When President John Dramani Mahama took office, he made a sacred pledge that no Ghanaian should be forced to choose between their life and their livelihood,” she stated.
She explained that the Trust Fund, established under the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Act, 2025 (Act 1144), was created to address the growing burden of chronic non-communicable diseases, which account for nearly 43 percent of deaths in Ghana.
Madam Adjoa Obuobia noted that before the establishment of the fund, access to specialized healthcare remained difficult for many Ghanaians due to high treatment costs, inadequate medical equipment and the concentration of specialists in Accra and Kumasi.
“The Ghana Medical Trust Fund is our response. The fund is a dedicated, well-funded vehicle to provide financial relief and world-class specialized care to every corner of Ghana,” she said.
She further disclosed that the Trust Fund is financed through 20 percent of the National Health Insurance Levy, government budgetary allocations, grants, voluntary contributions, investments and donations from institutions and individuals.
The Administrator expressed gratitude to President Mahama for donating six months of his salary to support the initiative and commended government appointees, corporate institutions and citizens who have also contributed financially to the fund.
“Our shared belief is that access to life-saving specialist healthcare must never depend on personal wealth,” she stressed.
Madam Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku revealed that the Trust Fund operates around four major strategic pillars, namely financial support for specialized medical care, investment in healthcare infrastructure and equipment, specialist workforce development and support for medical research.
She clarified that the Trust Fund complements rather than duplicates the role of the National Health Insurance Authority.
“At the apex is the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, which focuses on specialized tertiary-level care and supports patients where the National Health Insurance coverage is limited or unavailable,” she explained.
Providing updates on the implementation process, she said the Secretariat of the Fund commenced full operations in September 2025, while the Board of Trustees was inaugurated in October 2025 to provide strategic oversight.
She disclosed that a nationwide needs assessment conducted across 21 health facilities exposed severe inequalities in access to specialist healthcare.
“Across all facilities assessed, there were only two MRI machines and five mammogram machines. Additionally, there are only two radiotherapy machines within the public sector and one in the private sector, located in Accra and Kumasi,” she revealed.
Madam Adjoa Obuobia further noted that only two practicing cardiologists currently serve the entire northern sector of Ghana, which has a population of about seven million people.
To address these challenges, she announced that the Trust Fund is constructing three state-of-the-art cardiology centres at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Tamale Teaching Hospital.
The centres, she explained, will include catheterization laboratories, hybrid theatres, intensive care units, recovery wards and modern diagnostic facilities.
She also disclosed that dialysis machines, ICU beds and patient monitors have already been distributed to facilities including Sunyani Teaching Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and the Volta Regional Hospital.
On specialist training, Madam Adjoa Obuobia stated that the Trust Fund has invested over GH¢36 million into partnerships with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives and the Ghana College of Pharmacists to train specialist doctors, pharmacists and nurses nationwide.
“These professionals being trained from all regions of Ghana will be required to serve in their local communities, ensuring that expertise is not a city-only privilege,” she noted.
The Administrator further announced that the nationwide Patient Support Programme under the Trust Fund will officially roll out in June 2026 after a successful pilot phase involving 50 patients across 11 hospitals.
According to her, more than GH¢4.8 million has already been spent on supporting patients who underwent heart surgeries, brain surgeries, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and orthopedic surgeries.
Beneficiaries, she said, ranged from six-month-old babies to 85-year-old patients.
She explained that the initial benefit package will focus on cancers, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer and childhood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma.
“To benefit from support under the Trust Fund, an applicant must be a Ghanaian citizen, possess an active National Health Insurance card and have a medical condition approved under the fund,” she explained.
Madam Adjoa Obuobia added that applications would be processed digitally through specialist clinicians at designated hospitals rather than through direct walk-ins at the Secretariat.
She indicated that 29 hospitals across the country have already been enlisted for the programme, including teaching hospitals, regional hospitals and selected private specialist facilities.
Looking ahead, she stated that the Trust Fund aims to establish comprehensive oncology and cancer centres nationwide to reduce the burden on patients who currently travel long distances for treatment.
“It is our vision to establish at least three comprehensive cancer centres capable of providing integrated diagnostics, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and advanced treatment modalities across the country,” she stated.
She described the Ghana Medical Trust Fund as more than just a healthcare financing institution.
“It represents hope for families. It represents dignity for patients. It represents government’s commitment to ensuring that no Ghanaian is denied life-saving specialized care simply because they cannot afford it,” she emphasized.
Madam Adjoa Obuobia concluded by calling on individuals, institutions and corporate organizations to support the initiative through donations.
“Let us continue to build a Ghana where healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and where Mahama Cares is not a slogan, but a lived experience for every citizen,” she said.
Story: Patrick Asford Boadu
