By Gameli Atakuma
When a mother delays treatment because she can’t afford the co-pay, when a farmer ignores chest pains to save for harvest season, when a retiree splits pills to make them last, our communities suffer invisible wounds. These aren’t isolated choices; they are the calculated sacrifices of millions of our citizens forced to gamble with their health against their livelihood. Today, our government declares this unacceptable. His Excellency the President John Dramani Mahama Free Primary Health Care Program initiative, introduced through the able leadership of our Honorable Minister of Health and the health Ministry and allied Ministries is not political rhetoric or campaign promises we will forget after election, but this is a transformative, evidence-based policy that will fundamentally change the health fortunes of our nation.
The Free Primary Healthcare Program is not merely a policy proposal. It is a national commitment to repair the torn social fabric that holds our neighborhoods, workforces, and families together. We recognize that a nation’s strength is measured not by its wealthiest citizens, but by how we protect our most vulnerable. This initiative will transform healthcare from a privilege of the few into a fundamental right of all Ghanaian.
Let me be unequivocal: Primary Health Care is the cornerstone of an effective and equitable health system and a critical pathway toward achieving universal health coverage. This is not our invention; it is proven truth recognized by the World Health Organization and demonstrated in every country that has successfully built a robust healthcare system. When we examine nations with strong health outcomes i.e. Rwanda’s remarkable gains, Thailand’s universal coverage, even the UK and Canada’s renowned systems, we find one common denominator: they invested heavily in accessible, affordable primary healthcare as their foundation. The evidence is overwhelming: when people have access to quality primary healthcare, entire populations become healthier, healthcare costs decrease, economic productivity increases, and societies prosper. This is what our government, led by NDC is bringing to every Ghanaian through this initiative.
The fundamental logic of primary healthcare (PHC) is simple yet profound: routine health checks and healthy living guarantee a quicker and better response when one’s health condition gets critical. Every Ghanaian understands this principle with their vehicles; thus, you service your car regularly not because something is wrong, but to prevent breakdowns. You change the oil, check the tires, inspect the brakes to catch small problems before they become big disasters. If you apply this logic to your car, an inanimate machine that can be replaced, why would you not apply the same to your body, which is infinitely more valuable and the only one you will ever have? Yet millions of Ghanaians are forced to neglect their health not because they don’t understand the importance of early care, but because they cannot afford it.
Example, a mother with elevated blood pressure skips her check-up because she needs money for school fees, and six months later she suffers a stroke that leaves her paralyzed. A father ignores persistent fatigue because he cannot afford to miss work for a clinic visit, and when he finally collapses, his diabetes has damaged his kidneys beyond repair. A young woman delays seeking care for a breast lump due to cost fears, and by the time she reaches the hospital, her cancer has spread beyond cure. These are not hypothetical scenarios; these tragedies happen daily in Ghanaian homes. Every single one could have been prevented with accessible, affordable primary healthcare.
When you can visit a health facility for regular check-ups without worrying about cost, high blood pressure is detected and managed before it causes a stroke; diabetes is identified and controlled before it destroys your organs; cancers are caught early when they can still be cured; childhood illnesses are prevented through timely vaccinations; malnutrition is spotted before a child’s development is permanently affected; and pregnant women receive monitoring that saves both maternal and infant lives. This is the power of primary healthcare and its free now, it catches problems early when they are small, manageable, and inexpensive to treat, rather than waiting until they become catastrophic, difficult to manage, and ruinously expensive emergencies. The day when we say “I’ll wait until it gets worse because I cannot afford the clinic today, will be no more.
Beyond individual health outcomes, the same principle applies to better referral systems and less stress and usage on health systems that are meant to handle acute referrals. Our major hospitals Korle-Bu, Komfo Anokye, Ridge Hospital and the likes are overwhelmed today because our health system operates upside down. People bypass primary care entirely, ignore minor symptoms until they become major emergencies, then rush to teaching hospitals with conditions that could have been managed at a community health center.
A mother whose child has a simple fever travel to Korle-Bu instead of her local CHPS compound. A man with chest pain drives three hours to the regional hospital when a nearby health worker could have identified his hypertension, provided medication, and possibly prevented the heart attack altogether. This misuse creates a vicious cycle: primary facilities remain underutilized while teaching hospitals are overwhelmed; patients needing basic care receive expensive, specialized care inappropriate for their conditions; patients needing specialized care cannot access it because specialists are dealing with cases that should never have reached them; healthcare costs spiral; quality deteriorates for everyone; and healthcare workers become demoralized and exhausted.
Our teaching hospitals are designed to have our doctors trained to handle complex cases i.e. major surgeries, serious trauma, intensive care, specialized treatments, complicated deliveries, advanced cancer care etc. These hospitals are the apex of our health system and must be preserved for cases requiring their expertise. When they are clogged with primary care cases like common malaria, simple infections, routine hypertension checks, uncomplicated deliveries then the truly critical patients who have suffered heart attacks, strokes, or serious accidents cannot access care quickly; healthcare costs become astronomical because hospital treatment costs five to ten times more than clinic care. The overwhelming workloads also lead to burnout and medical errors; and the long delays affect everyone. Free Primary Health Care fundamentally transforms this dysfunctional system.
When primary healthcare is accessible and free, minor illnesses are treated at the community level, freeing hospital resources for truly complex cases. Chronic diseases are identified early and managed at health centers before they become emergencies. Pregnant women receive regular antenatal care, ensuring most deliveries happen normally. Children receive vaccinations that prevent diseases requiring hospitalization. And when patients need referral to higher levels, they arrive with proper documentation, appropriate treatment already initiated, and genuine need for specialized services—not as desperate emergencies that could have been prevented.
This means Korle-Bu’s, Komfo Anokye, Accra Regional and the like’s emergency room becomes immediately available for car accidents and strokes because it’s not packed with people who could have been treated locally. Surgical theaters can schedule efficiently. Specialists focus on complex cases. Healthcare workers provide quality care without impossible workloads. The entire system becomes more efficient, effective, and sustainable. This is what the Free Primary Healthcare stand to achieve.
Some critics, particularly our political opponents will ask, “Can Ghana afford this?” My response is direct: Can Ghana afford NOT to do this? Can we afford watching citizens die from preventable diseases? Can we afford massive economic losses from workers too sick to be productive? Can we afford families plunged into poverty by catastrophic health expenditures? Can we afford the enormous costs of treating preventable diseases at hospital level when they could have been managed cheaply at primary level? Can we afford the social costs of children orphaned by preventable maternal deaths, breadwinners disabled by preventable strokes, young people whose potential is destroyed by diseases that should have been prevented? The answer is a resounding NO.
But beyond economics, this is about our values as a nation. The market woman in Makola, Kejetia, Ho, Kintampo, Kotokuraba and the likes deserves the same healthcare as the executive in East Legon. The farmer in a remote village should have access like the civil servant in Accra. The elderly grandmother who raised children and contributed to her community should receive medical attention with the same dignity as the young professional. Health is a human right, not a luxury for those who can afford it.
Currently, millions are denied this right because of poverty. They watch children suffer from treatable conditions, live with painful chronic diseases that could be managed, postpone care until conditions become irreversible, and face impossible choices between healthcare and other basic needs. No Ghanaian should choose between buying food for their children and taking those children to the clinic when sick. No elderly person should decide between purchasing blood pressure medication and paying rent. No pregnant woman should skip antenatal check-ups because she cannot afford fees. These should never be choices in our resource-blessed Ghana. Free Primary Health Care eliminates these cruel choices and ensures every Ghanaian, regardless of socioeconomic status, can access essential health services.
Citizen men and women, we stand at a defining moment in our nation’s health history, a moment that will be remembered when historians chronicle milestones in Ghana’s development. This Free Primary Health Care Program initiative is not merely policy; it is a revolution in how we approach health, value human life, distribute national resources, and define our responsibilities to each other.
I call on every Ghanaian to USE THESE SERVICES visit your local health facility for regular check-ups, take children for vaccinations, get screened for chronic conditions, seek care early.
SPREAD THE WORD tell family, friends, neighbors about free PHC; combat any misinformation being peddled by those who would rather see this initiative fail than see Ghanaians healthy.
RESPECT OUR HEALTHCARE WORKERS doing sacred work under challenging conditions.
HOLD THE SYSTEM ACCOUNTABLE report facilities charging for free services, demand quality care, participate in health governance. Put Ghana first. Support good policy regardless of who proposes it. History will judge you not by partisan rhetoric, but by whether you stood with Ghanaians when their health was at stake.
To NDC party faithful: this is OUR policy, OUR commitment to the people, OUR demonstration of what leadership looks like. Champion this initiative in your communities organize health walks, host education sessions, ensure every household knows about and can access free PHC. This is how we prove our party delivers on promises.
To every Ghanaian who believes in a better future, I say: Join us. Support this initiative. Use it. Defend it. Make it succeed. Because when we invest in primary health care, we invest in every Ghanaian life every market woman, every farmer, every student, every worker, every elderly person, every child, every mother, every father. And every single Ghanaian life is precious and worth fighting for. This initiative WILL succeed because it MUST succeed, because 33 million lives depend on it, because Ghana’s future depends on it, because our humanity demands it. Support Free Primary Health Care this is not a request; it is a call to patriotic duty. When infant mortality is rare, chronic diseases are well-managed, no family is impoverished by medical bills, and every Ghanaian lives longer and healthier, we will look back at this moment and recognize it as the turning point.
Long live Free Primary Health Care Program! Long live the health and wellbeing of all Ghanaians! Long live our great nation!
Gameli Atakuma
Chairman
NDC Canada chapter
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