The Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, has labeled the proposed Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund, also known as the "Mahama Cares" Trust Fund, a potential breeding ground for fraud.

During parliamentary discussions on the 2025 Budget Statement on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, Dr Afriye criticised the purpose of the trust, warning that the fund, intended to support patients battling Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, kidney failure, heart conditions, liver disease, and high blood pressure, could overlap with existing healthcare structures, opening the door to mismanagement.

“Mr Speaker, you cannot have a medical trust fund that is going to duplicate the existing institutional structures, their roles and their allocation. We have departments of Non-Communicable Diseases, so if you are going to say this is going to take care of lymphomas, it’s going to take care of cancers, kidneys, and all the others under Non-Communicable Diseases, Mr Speaker it is not realistic. Mr Speaker, we have existing programs, we have directorates, we have units that are already responsible for them,” he argued.

The Member of Parliament for Effiduase/Asokore underscored that while the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Minority Caucus support the government’s decision to uncap the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL), a move the NPP had also championed, they see no need for a separate trust fund.

He cautioned that creating parallel systems risks financial abuse.

“If you fully uncap the NHIA like the way the NPP promised and you have done it, we don’t have a reason to say because the NPP did not come to power, we will pull you down. We are going to support you. Just make the funds available to the institutions and they will run it very well, you don’t need a trust. If this goes on, you duplicate, and there will be fraud. Somebody will do it for the other and somebody will go and take the money for the other,” he stated.

The Mahama Medical Trust Fund, officially dubbed the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund or "Mahama Cares," aims to ease the burden of costly treatments not fully covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The government touts the uncapping of the NHIL as a vital step to finance this policy within a broader GH₵9.93 billion NHIS allocation.

However, Dr Afriye contends that this approach misdiagnoses the healthcare sector’s real needs, accusing the government of prescribing the wrong remedy.

He insists that existing policies already address NCD treatment, rendering the trust redundant and vulnerable to exploitation.

Instead, Dr Afriye proposed redirecting resources to tackle pressing gaps, such as the impending withdrawal of donor funding.

“If there is a trust, the trust must look at financing. Mr Speaker, if you talk about financing, the USAID is going, GAVY is leaving, in the next three years, you are going to be fully responsible for your vaccines. So, a certain trust can look into the future, looking at funds to take care of this,” he said.

He also urged investment in healthcare infrastructure to address systemic deficiencies, rather than layering on what he views as a flawed initiative.

GA/AE



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