Prioritise preventive measures to sustain Ghana Medical Trust Fund – NGO

The Ghana NCD Alliance has welcomed the Government’s renewed commitment to the proposed Ghana Medical Trust Fund but urged stronger investment in prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), without which the initiative may struggle to remain sustainable.

Labram Musah, National Coordinator of the Alliance, said recent policy signals in the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) showed growing commitment to financing the initiative through the National Health Insurance framework.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Musah lauded government’s plans to channel 100 per cent of the National Health Insurance Levy to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), while allocating a portion of the fund to support the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund (MahamaCares).

About 20 per cent of the fund is expected to serve as seed money for the Trust Fund, which aims to help finance treatment for chronic and life-threatening diseases.

“We are happy about that commitment and the increase in government expenditure allocation towards the initiative,” he said.

Musah also welcomed government’s plans to introduce a pilot programme to reduce the financial burden of treating chronic conditions.

The initiative, popularly known as “Mahama Care,” is expected to ease the high cost of treatment for people living with chronic diseases if implemented effectively.

However, he warned that current policy discussions appear to focus more on financing treatment rather than preventing the diseases that created the burden in the first place.

Non-communicable diseases accounted for about 45 per cent of deaths, he said, and failing to reduce risk factors could eventually overwhelm the proposed fund.

“If the burden drops from 45 per cent to about 35 per cent due to improved treatment, but we do not tackle unhealthy behaviours, the numbers will rise again,” he said.

Mr. Musah cautioned that in such a situation, the Ghana MedicalTrust Fund could face serious financial pressure as more people require treatment than the fund can support.

He noted that the fund’s financial base -largely tied to allocations from the National Health Insurance Levy -may not be sufficient if the prevalence of chronic diseases continued to grow.

To address the problem, he urged government to intensify preventive measures, including stronger health promotion policies and public education on healthy lifestyles.

“One of the most effective preventive measures is increasing taxes on harmful health commodities that provide no health benefits,” he said.

Higher taxes on such products, he explained, would both discourage unhealthy consumption and generate additional revenue to support healthcare financing.

Musah said balancing treatment with prevention would be critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Fund.

“While we commend the President for his commitment to supporting treatment, equal attention must be given to prevention. Without that, the fund will struggle to cope with the growing burden of chronic diseases,” he said.