By: Celestine Avi and Seth Eyiah
President John Dramani Mahama has called for stronger, responsive and coordinated health professional regulation across Africa to protect patients, strengthen public confidence and advance the continent’s goal of universal health coverage.
Addressing the 28th Annual International Conference of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA) in Accra, President Mahama said universal health coverage must go beyond hospitals, health insurance, medicines and the number of health professionals trained, stressing that “coverage without safety is incomplete, access without quality can cause harm, and health systems without public trust cannot endure.”
President Mahama said regulation should not be seen as a bureaucratic obstacle but as a critical instrument for public protection, patient safety and confidence in healthcare.
He said every professional licence issued by a regulator represents a promise to the public that the practitioner has been properly trained, fairly assessed, duly registered and will be held to clear professional and ethical standards.
The President noted that Africa’s health landscape is changing rapidly, with growing populations, shifting disease burdens, increasing non-communicable diseases, greater mobility of health professionals and the rapid expansion of digital health, telemedicine and artificial intelligence.
He cautioned that these developments, while creating new opportunities, also introduce new risks that regulators must be prepared to address.
President Mahama therefore urged regulators to become more responsive, saying regulation must evolve with changing technologies, emerging health threats and the movement of health professionals across borders.
He identified patient protection during conflicts and humanitarian crises, health workforce migration, digital health and artificial intelligence, fraudulent qualifications and professional impersonation, and health security among the key challenges requiring stronger regulatory cooperation across Africa.
On digital healthcare, President Mahama cited Ghana’s experience with a digital medical records provider that eventually switched off its system after repeatedly demanding additional payments.
He said the experience exposed the risks of digital dependence and raised important questions about data ownership, system continuity and accountability.
The President stressed that artificial intelligence must support rather than replace professional judgement and human responsibility, while urging Africa to participate in setting standards and developing technologies that adequately reflect African populations.
President Mahama also called for stronger collaboration among African regulators to combat forged qualifications, fake licences, professional impersonation and unlawful medical practice.
He said no country should become a refuge for a practitioner sanctioned elsewhere and advocated secure, lawful and timely information sharing among regulatory authorities.
On Ghana’s health agenda, President Mahama said the country is strengthening the National Health Insurance Scheme, which currently provides coverage to about 76 per cent of the population, with an ambition to reach 90 per cent.
He also highlighted the Free Primary Healthcare Programme, which he said has commenced in about 160 districts, with the remaining districts to be onboarded.
The programme focuses on preventive healthcare and underserved communities, with beneficiaries accessing services at CHPS compounds, mobile health kiosks and other designated facilities free of charge.
President Mahama further highlighted the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, which seeks to protect people living with chronic and high-cost conditions from financial hardship.
He also renewed his call for African health sovereignty, stressing that it does not mean isolation but rather building the capacity to meet the health needs of African populations through mutually respectful partnerships.
President Mahama said Ghana currently imports about 70 per cent of the medicines it consumes and has developed a five-year plan to reverse the situation, with the goal of producing at least 70 per cent of medicines locally.
He urged the conference to focus on practical outcomes, including stronger regulatory cooperation, improved information sharing, capacity building and implementable policy recommendations.
President Mahama said “universal health coverage cannot exist without universal health confidence”, stressing that citizens must be assured that whether they seek care at a clinic, hospital or through a digital platform, the professional attending to them is competent, ethical and accountable.
He called on policymakers to provide regulators with the necessary legal authority, institutional independence, resources and technological capacity to perform their duties effectively.
President Mahama subsequently declared the 28th Annual International Conference of AMCOA officially open.
