Minority warns of worsening healthcare delivery amid low government spending

The Minority Caucus on Parliament’s Health Committee has raised serious concerns over what it describes as the government’s deliberate failure to adequately invest in Ghana’s  health sector.

According to a member of the committee and Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Dr. Kingsley Agyemang, the continued underfunding of the sector is gradually weakening healthcare delivery, worsening disease outcomes, and ultimately undermining the country’s development agenda.

Speaking at a press conference on the government’s 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review, Dr. Agyemang argued that the Finance Minister’s presentation made it evident that little had been done to improve the health sector.

He stressed that investment in healthcare should not be treated as optional expenditure but as a national priority.

“The implication of not spending in the health sector is that we cannot have quality healthcare. When you don’t have healthcare, you don’t have a nation because people drive value. You cannot underestimate the quality of your people. The best standard for every country is to maintain a healthy population,” he stated.

Dr. Agyemang also expressed concern over what he described as the declining visibility of public health promotion campaigns, including HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B awareness initiatives, among others.

He argued that reduced government investment in preventive healthcare has contributed to rising infection rates.

He noted that public education campaigns, once a regular feature on television and radio stations, have significantly declined, leaving many Ghanaians without consistent access to health information and awareness programmes.

“You remember HIV cases have increased. It is all because access to condoms and the promotion of HIV awareness have become a problem. After all, the government is not spending. When was the last time you saw a government-sponsored health promotion advertisement on television?” he questioned.

The Abuakwa South MP further drew attention to the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, describing them as major causes of death in Ghana that require sustained investment in prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment.

According to him, inadequate funding for public health interventions is making it increasingly difficult to tackle these diseases effectively, resulting in avoidable deaths across the country.

He also pointed to the Nursing Training Allowance, stating that only about 30 per cent of the allocated funds had reportedly been utilised, raising concerns about the government’s ability to honour payments to trainee nurses before the end of the financial year.

“The only budget line that appears to be up to date is compensation because workers have to be paid. But when it comes to the Nursing Training Allowance, only about 30 per cent has been utilised. If you are a nursing trainee watching me, it is straightforward that your allowances may not be paid because it will be difficult to complete the payments before the end of the year,” he asserted.

The legislator also questioned the pace of funding releases to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), claiming that only about 30 per cent of the approved budget had been utilised despite the government’s earlier decision to uncap the National Health Insurance Fund.

He argued that removing the cap alone would not improve healthcare delivery unless the Ministry of Finance released the approved funds to hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare programmes.

“There was no point in uncapping the National Health Insurance Fund if the money is not released. A budget allocation on paper is meaningless unless the Finance Minister actually releases the funds for healthcare delivery,” he stressed.

Dr. Kingsley Agyemang therefore appealed to the Finance Minister to prioritise the release of resources to the health sector, warning that delays in funding could have far-reaching consequences for healthcare delivery and the overall wellbeing of Ghanaians.