The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Health Committee and Member of Parliament for Effiduase/Asokore, Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, has criticised the government’s decision to commit GH₵1.2 billion annually to the proposed Free Primary Healthcare programme, describing it as a misplaced priority.
His comments follow a disclosure by the Minister for Health that at least GH₵1.2 billion will be required each year to roll out the initiative, which seeks to expand access to basic healthcare services nationwide.
Speaking in an interview with Joy News, Dr Ayew Afriyie argued that Ghana already has an established foundation for primary healthcare delivery through Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds and community health workers.
“Who doesn’t know about dietary plans to prevent healthcare? Who doesn’t know about promotive healthcare? There are community health workers and auxiliary nurses who have been educating people all this while,” he stated.
He further raised concerns about the state of existing health infrastructure, noting that several district hospitals continue to operate from outdated colonial-era buildings or repurposed CHPS facilities.
According to him, government should prioritise completing ongoing hospital projects under the Agenda 111 programme rather than committing substantial resources to a new initiative.
“The most important thing is that every place has a CHPS compound. Every place has a health centre. What they lack is state-of-the-art district hospitals,” he said.
“You must think through and ensure that Agenda 111 projects are ongoing. You may not complete all at once, but you can restructure them so that within the next 10 years, most are completed.”
Dr Ayew Afriyie also questioned the rationale behind committing fresh funding to primary healthcare when significant investments have already been made into Agenda 111.
“You’ve invested almost $4.7 billion into Agenda 111 and not fully utilised it, yet you plan to spend $1.2 billion annually on primary healthcare,” he added.
He maintained that while strengthening primary healthcare is important, government must adopt a balanced and pragmatic approach that prioritises existing infrastructure gaps alongside new policy initiatives.
