The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged the government to bring healthcare coverage closer to the people, revealing that 106 districts across the country have no access to health facilities within one hour of travel time.
While an assessment of travel time and facility readiness across regions showed that 93 per cent of Ghanaians can access a hospital within one hour at the national level, at the district level, it was less than 50 per cent.
The assessment was derived from the Harmonised Health Facility Assessment (HHFA) – a nationwide evaluation of the quality and accessibility of healthcare facilities conducted by the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and WHO.
The WHO attributed the lack of access to quality healthcare in districts largely to poor road networks and healthcare facilities being far from the people – a situation that made travel distances by healthcare seekers long, impeding access to critical patient care, including antenatal and child health services.
Speaking at a media training in Accra ahead of the national launch and dissemination of Ghana’s first Quality of Care (QoC) Report later in November, Mr Dominic Atweam, the Strategic Health Information Officer of WHO Ghana, called for investments into enhancing district transport systems.
“The data tells us that while national coverage may look impressive on paper, over a hundred districts still have communities that cannot reach a hospital or health centre within one hour. This inequity has real consequences on lives, maternal health, and emergency response,” Mr Atweam said.
He noted that healthcare access was not just about the number of facilities but how close they were to the people and the quality of services delivered, adding: “Ghana must prioritise bringing quality care closer to the people, especially in hard-to-reach areas.”
The findings, he said, called for strategic planning, improved infrastructure, and resource allocation to ensure equity in health access nationwide, especially across various districts.
Mr Atweam said the Harmonised Health Facility Assessment would help policymakers identify where to direct new investments, whether in building facilities, improving roads, or upgrading community-based health services.
He urged the media to play an active role in translating technical evidence into public awareness and advocacy, noting that data must drive national dialogue and decision-making.
“The media’s role is crucial in helping the public and policymakers to understand these disparities. When evidence is communicated clearly, it inspires collective action to make the health system more equitable and accountable.”
Dr Fiona Braka, WHO Ghana Representative, in a speech read on her behalf, noted that while access to health centres within 30 minutes averaged 64 per cent nationally, coverage in some regions ranged from three to 13 per cent.
She stated that essential services maps had been developed to support micro-level planning and targeted interventions across all 261 districts, recommending that policymakers prioritised reducing travel time rather than increasing facility numbers.
Dr Braka encouraged the media to use their various platforms to propel actions that would lead to bridging the gap between technical evidence and public understanding, and make policymakers respond favourable to the report.
“How this evidence is reported and disclosed will influence how policy makers, professionals, and the public perceive and respond to the findings,” she said, pledging WHO’s commitment towards working with the government and partners to advance health outcomes for all Ghanaians.
