What Mintah-Akandoh told the UN on Ghana’s fight against NCDs and mental health

The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah-Akandoh, has reaffirmed the country’s commitment to addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health challenges, describing them as no longer a silent crisis but a daily reality for families, communities, and the health care system.

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Speaking at the High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being, held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, he stressed that effective responses require integrating services within primary health care, strengthening accountability, and addressing commercial, social, economic and environmental determinants of health.

Mintah Akandoh noted that Ghana has taken bold steps by adopting the World Health Organization’s Penn and Penn Plus frameworks into primary health care, while training community health workers to manage hypertension and diabete

“We are integrating WHO’s PEN and PENPLUS frameworks into primary healthcare, training and empowering community health workers to manage hypertension and diabetes, embedding NCD risk assessment in routine services so people are diagnosed early, not too late,” he explained.

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Mintah Akandoh also called for accountability through data, fairness, and openness, while stressing the need to confront stigma by decriminalizing suicide, de-institutionalizing care, and adapting inclusive community-based solutions.

"We have no excuse, we cannot fail, on behalf of Ghana, I reaffirm our commitment to equity, to integration, and to the conviction that every life matters, together, let us turn our ways into action and our commitment into hope realized", he added.

Watch the full video below:

Statement at the High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-being.

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— Kwabena Mintah Akandoh (@KMAkandoh) September 26, 2025

JKB/

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