Ghana’s progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) depends on building and retaining a resilient, motivated and equitably distributed health workforce, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has said.
He said workforce development must remain central to health sector reforms to sustain recent gains in healthcare access, service delivery and financial protection.
Mr Akandoh made the remarks at the opening of the 2026 Annual Health Summit in Accra, held on the theme: “Building a Resilient Health Workforce for Universal Health Coverage”.
The summit brought together policymakers, development partners, health professional associations, academia and civil society organisations to discuss strategies for strengthening Ghana’s health system amid emerging global and domestic challenges.
Describing health workers as the backbone of healthcare delivery, Mr Akandoh urged stakeholders to prioritise workforce development as a key pillar of the country’s healthcare transformation.
“Systems do not heal people. People heal people,” he declared, emphasising that doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, public health practitioners and other frontline workers remained the driving force behind health outcomes in the country.
Mr Akandoh said Ghana’s health sector had recorded significant progress in recent years.
Data presented at the summit showed that outpatient attendance increased from 29.9 million visits in 2021 to more than 39 million visits in 2025, while active membership of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) rose from 57 per cent of the population in 2021 to 66 per cent in 2026.
He also reported a decline in out-of-pocket health expenditure from 38 per cent of total health spending to 26.7 per cent, indicating improved financial protection for citizens seeking healthcare.
According to the Ministry, public sector health workforce density increased from 16.5 per 10,000 population in 2013 to 41.92 per 10,000 population in 2022.
The combined density of doctors, nurses and midwives reached 82.75 per 10,000 population, exceeding the benchmark established by the World Health Organization.
Despite the progress, Mr Akandoh said disparities in workforce distribution remained a challenge.
He noted that although about 41 per cent of Ghanaians lived in rural communities, only 38 per cent of health workers were deployed to those areas.
Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions, he said, continued to attract the majority of doctors and pharmacists, resulting in shortages in underserved regions.
Mr Akandoh also identified migration of health professionals as an ongoing concern, with many expressing intentions to seek opportunities abroad.
“The challenge before us is no longer simply training more health workers. It is employing them, deploying them fairly, motivating them, supporting them and retaining them,” he said.
To address the gaps, the Minister said Government recruited more than 14,000 health workers in 2025 and planned to employ an additional 16,000 in 2026, with recruitment processes completed for about 8,000 personnel.
He highlighted progress in staffing underserved areas, noting that while only 12 medical doctors accepted postings to eight underserved regions in 2024, the figure had increased to 100 doctors in 2026.
Mr Akandoh said 475 nurses were currently undergoing specialised training, with plans to train about 1,000 annually.
Additionally, 30 scholarships had been awarded over the past year for PhD programmes to strengthen leadership, research capacity and specialised expertise within the health sector.
Mr Akandoh noted that workforce resilience went beyond staffing levels to include ethics, professionalism, accountability and patient-centred care.
“We can build hospitals, procure equipment and digitise services. But if patients are not treated with dignity, respect and compassion, we will not achieve the outcomes our people deserve,” he said.
The Minister disclosed that Government intended to complete at least 10 hospitals under the Agenda 111 initiative in 2026 and commence work on three new regional hospitals in the Savannah, Oti and Western North Regions.
Plans were also underway to establish three cardiac centres and strengthen partnerships with the private sector and faith-based organisations to improve healthcare delivery.
Mr Akandoh said the reforms aligned with Government’s broader development agenda, recognising investment in health workers as both a health sector and economic development priority.
“When health workers thrive, communities thrive. When communities thrive, economies grow. And when economies grow, nations prosper,” he said.
The Minister called on government institutions, development partners, professional bodies, training institutions and healthcare workers to forge a renewed national compact for health workforce development.
He urged stakeholders to move beyond dialogue and commit to measurable actions to improve recruitment, retention, equitable deployment, professional development and workplace conditions.
“The future of Universal Health Coverage in Ghana will not be determined by policies alone, but by our collective commitment to support the men and women who deliver healthcare every day,” he said.
Mr Akandoh appealed for sustained investment in workforce welfare, rural incentives, specialist training, digital health competencies and leadership development.
“If we succeed in building a resilient workforce that is available, highly skilled, motivated and equitably distributed, we will accelerate our journey toward Universal Health Coverage and build a Ghana where quality healthcare is a right enjoyed by all and not a privilege for a few,” he said.
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