Dr Nana Ayew Afriye is the MP for Effiduase-Asokore
Dr Nana Ayew Afriye has asserted that the government’s efforts at addressing the country’s health challenges have been marked by nothing short of a series of confusing and contradictory statements.
The Member of Parliament for Effiduase-Asokore argues that he could not comprehend why President John Dramani Mahama’s administration intends to set-up the Ghana Medical Trust Fund to support the care of persons with chronic diseases such as other forms of cancers, dialysis, breast cancers and others, when there is an existing provision through the National Health Insurance Authority for the same purpose.
“All the diseases this Ghana Medical Trust Fund intends to support are already provided for in the NHIA budget, so there is no need for that. Breast cancer, cervical cancer and all the leading four major childhood cancers has now been included in the benefit package, these are all being taken care of in the NHIA budget as well,” Dr Ayew Afriye said.
He raised these concerns on the floor of Parliament during the ongoing debate on the State of the Nation’s Address on Friday, March 7, 2025.
He strongly criticised the ‘Onuado Health Care Policy’ captured in page 104 of the NDC’s manifesto, where government intends to provide vans to visit deprived communities to provide specialist healthcare for people.
In his view, such a regressive measure cannot, in anyway, be substituted with the completion and operationalisation of the Agenda 111 project, as it goes a long way to drastically improve healthcare delivery in the country.
“Agenda 111 project, which would enhance the health sector and ultimately provide jobs for the citizenry cannot be traded for this so-called Onuado Health Care Policy, which is just a stop-gap measure.
“The more I listen to the NDC, the more I get confused about their resetting agenda,” Dr Ayew Afriye said.
It was in this direction that he called on the government to rationalise budgetary allocation and expenditure of resources to focus on primary healthcare and manage existing infrastructure.
He explained that Agenda 111 project is an ambitious plan by the erstwhile administration to bridge the health infrastructure deficit in the country as more hospitals would be constructed in districts without health facilities.
Watch Dr Nana Ayew’s submissions in the video below:
VPO/WLBK