The Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF), popularly known as Mahama Cares, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, has assured Ghanaians that the initiative is being implemented to support eligible patients suffering from chronic and life-threatening non-communicable diseases while strengthening specialised healthcare delivery across the country.
Speaking at a stakeholder and community town hall meeting at the Anyidoho Auditorium of the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho, Mrs. Darko-Opoku said the establishment of the Fund was in response to the financial difficulties many families face when confronted with illnesses such as cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular conditions, stroke and complications associated with diabetes.
She stated that the diagnosis of a serious illness could place enormous financial pressure on families, forcing them to exhaust their savings, sell assets, borrow money or interrupt the education of their children, while relatives might also have to leave their jobs to care for sick family members.
According to the Administrator, the Fund had therefore been entrusted with the responsibility of building an institution that would provide support to eligible patients requiring specialised treatment for chronic non-communicable diseases, while simultaneously contributing to improvements in the healthcare system.
Mrs. Darko-Opoku said a nationwide needs assessment conducted by the Fund had taken the team to teaching, regional and other major referral hospitals, where they engaged health managers and professionals and identified gaps in equipment, infrastructure and specialist capacity.
She said the assessment had demonstrated that financial assistance alone would not solve the challenges confronting patients, explaining that a patient could receive support for treatment but still face difficulties if the required diagnostic services, equipment or specialist personnel were unavailable.
She outlined four key pillars of the Fund as financial support for eligible patients, provision of medical equipment and infrastructure, specialist training and human capacity development, as well as research and innovation to improve healthcare outcomes.
Mrs. Darko-Opoku said the Fund had already begun translating its mandate into practical interventions, including an initial pilot involving 50 patients across the country, while work had also been undertaken with specialists and partner institutions on medicines and treatment tariffs.
She called on Members of Parliament, local authorities, religious and traditional leaders, health professionals and the media to support public education on the Fund and ensure that eligible patients and their families received accurate information about the processes involved.
The Volta Regional Minister, James Gunu, said the high cost of treating diseases such as cancer continued to place a heavy burden on families, and expressed his appreciation to the government for introducing the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.
Mr. Gunu said the initiative was particularly important because many patients delayed seeking medical care due to financial constraints, while some resorted first to religious interventions in the hope of receiving a miracle before eventually reporting to health facilities when their conditions had deteriorated.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Professor Lydia Aziato, also stressed the importance of early detection and access to affordable treatment, particularly for cancer patients.
Drawing from her experience as a cancer nurse and researcher, she said early detection could significantly improve survival outcomes, and urged stakeholders to combine awareness, screening and timely treatment with the financial support being provided through the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.
FROM Daniel K. Orlando, Ho
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