The New Juaben Traditional Area has set out three critical expectations for the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF), urging the Fund to ease the burden of crippling medical bills, bring specialised healthcare closer to the people and shield families from financial hardship associated with chronic diseases.
The expectations were outlined by the Santahene of New Juaben, Dr Nana Agyeman Boateng Kwagyan I, who represented the Omanhene, Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III, at a town hall meeting in Koforidua during the GMTF’s Eastern Regional sensitisation tour.
He said the success of the Fund should be measured by its ability to deliver meaningful financial relief to families, improve access to specialised medical treatment regardless of geographical location, and prevent households from being impoverished by the cost of managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
He said such circumstances highlighted the urgent need for an intervention that would ensure that no family was pushed into poverty simply because a loved one needed specialised medical care.
He commended President John Dramani Mahama and Parliament for establishing the Fund under Act 1144, describing it as a significant intervention capable of transforming access to specialised healthcare in the country.
He stressed, however, that its benefits must reach every Ghanaian, irrespective of location or financial circumstances, and assured the GMTF management of the full support of the New Juaben Traditional Area.
Dr Kwagyan also appealed to individuals and corporate organisations to support the Fund, expressing optimism that improved access to treatment for chronic diseases would contribute to longer and healthier lives for Ghanaians.
The Administrator of the GMTF, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, said the regional sensitisation exercise was intended to bring the Fund’s mandate and benefits directly to the people, particularly those who needed its support most.
She explained that the Fund was established in response to the immense financial and emotional difficulties families endured while seeking treatment for relatives living with NCDs.
Ms Darko-Opoku called on traditional authorities, the media, market queen mothers and other community leaders to become ambassadors of the Fund by helping to educate the public, identify eligible patients and encourage them to access available support.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Hon. Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, described healthcare as a fundamental pillar of national development and expressed confidence that the sensitisation exercise would deepen public understanding of the Fund and its operations.
The Medical Director of the Eastern Regional Hospital, Dr Sananwie Suntaa Aiden, highlighted the difficulties confronting patients with cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and kidney conditions, noting that many families struggled to afford even basic laboratory investigations.
He described the GMTF as a timely intervention and appealed for the provision of a dialysis machine to strengthen the hospital’s capacity to manage patients with kidney-related conditions.
The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Damien Puunguyire, also called for collective support for the Fund, while emphasising the need to strengthen primary healthcare and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to reduce the pressure on the specialised healthcare financing intervention.
The Eastern Regional tour forms part of the GMTF’s nationwide stakeholder engagement drive to raise awareness of its mandate, strengthen institutional partnerships and expand access to financial support for Ghanaians living with non-communicable diseases.
