The Ministry of Finance will now grant Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption on raw materials for local manufactur­ing of drugs, finished pharmaceuti­cal products, and medical supplies, the sector minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has announced.

This, he said, had become ur­gent due to the dwindling donor in-flow to the health sector.

The minister disclosed this during the opening of the 2024 Annual Health Summit organ­ised by the Ministry of Health in Accra.

The three-day summit on the theme “Quality Healthcare Delivery: A catalyst for achiev­ing Universal Health Coverage in Ghana”, brought together stakeholders within the health sector to track progress made and its performance in the previous year to inform decision-making moving forward.

The minister called on the ministry to strengthen the policy environment and support the de­velopment of the private health sector as part of the new think­ing to reform the health sector in Ghana.

“The potential of the private health sector players and their contribution to our efforts to achieve the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets cannot be discounted,” he added.

Another pertinent area he said government was committed to tackling was the mass exodus of healthcare workforce which could have dire consequences on quality healthcare service delivery in the country.

He expressed excitement about the community scorecard initiative which sought to ensure the involvement and participation of the community members in the design and delivery of quality healthcare services.

However, he indicated that there were still gaps in the demand for quality healthcare services which needed more work to be done to enhance communi­ty involvement.

Dr. Amin urged the minis­try to address the “medication errors” in public health facilities, such as the incorrect dosages, frequencies, and drug-treatment mismatches which could lead to adverse effects and deaths, high­lighting the necessity for preven­tive measures and interventions to enhance patient safety.

The President’s Representa­tive at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, said the year under review had been challenging for the health sector, saying some of the burgeoning issues included accumulated unpaid bills, shortage of health commodities, capping of NHIF and IGF of some Agencies, and inadequate numbers and distribu­tion of critical health profession­als and difficulty in attracting and retaining critical staff, especially in deprived/remote areas.

“The recent intermittent power supply has negatively impacted healthcare service delivery in Ghana. Additionally, public hos­pitals in Ghana are struggling to pay their electricity bills. Health Service Providers especially be­moaned over 40 per cent of their revenue to pay electricity bills during our performance review engagement,” he added.

Notwithstanding, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye said the sector had made significant improvements in providing access to healthcare to the populace.

Moving forward, he said the ministry was committed to pursuing service delivery inter­ventions using the life course and one-health approach in a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to deliver high-quality healthcare, while building a better and more efficient health system to respond to public health emergencies.

The DP Lead, Ag. Country Representative, World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Frank John Lule, reiterated WHO’s commitment to supporting the Health sector to achieve the uni­versal health coverage for all.