By: Savannah Pokuaah Duah
The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has begun stakeholder engagements with health sector leaders as the government intensifies preparations to roll out its Free Primary Healthcare policy in March.
The meeting, which the minister described as a listening exercise, aimed at gathering technical input from frontline health professionals to refine the policy ahead of its submission to Cabinet and Parliament for approval.
The Free Primary Healthcare initiative is a major pledge outlined in the party’s 2024 manifesto and is anchored in the Health Sector Medium-Term Development Plan (2025–2029).
Presenting the technical framework, the Director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME) at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Belinda Afriyie Nimako, said the policy builds on existing primary healthcare structures, including Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, health centres, and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), while introducing reforms aimed at expanding access and strengthening preventive care.
She explained that the policy will be financed through a blended payment system that combines the current fee-for-service model with population-based payments. This approach, she noted, is designed to incentivise preventive care, with equity and performance adjustments to support underserved communities.
According to Dr. Nimako, primary healthcare services under the policy will be free at the point of use, with no requirement for NHIS registration. The benefits package will include preventive and promotive care, basic curative services, essential medicines, basic diagnostics, maternal and child health services, mental health care, and emergency stabilisation.
She added that further consultations and technical work will be carried out ahead of the official launch of the policy in March.
