The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has announced that President John Dramani Mahama has directed the government’s dialysis subsidy to be extended to private healthcare facilities.

The announcement was made during the inauguration of a 13-member governing board for the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, also known as "Mahama Cares",  a flagship initiative aimed at providing financial support for the treatment of chronic non-communicable diseases.

The Minister revealed that the government will now cover GH₵500 per dialysis session at private facilities, similar to what is provided at public health centers.

“The current arrangement for payment of dialysis is that if you go to public health facilities, we have a maximum amount of money we pay per session—that’s around 499, something about 500 Ghana cedis. What we have realised is that there are people who also go to private facilities, and so, it’s a necessity; the President has directed us to give what is paid to the public facilities,” he explained.

“So, for example, if you go to private facility A and they are charging you 1,000 Ghana cedis, the government will pay the 500 Ghana cedis, and you top up, to be fair to everybody. So, the CEO for the National Health Insurance has been directed accordingly to take up that challenge,” he added.

The Health Minister also called on corporate organizations and individuals to support the government’s initiative by contributing to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.

“And finally, to also add my voice to the appeal the chairman made to corporate Ghana. We cannot do it all alone. It is the partnership between the government and corporate Ghana that will take us far. There are other corporate bodies who have come on board, like Telecel Group of Companies, and there are some banks as well,” he said.