Ghana has expanded its Free Primary Health Care (FPHC) programme to 135 districts across the 16 regions, with the aim of achieving nationwide coverage by 2027.
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‎The programme is currently being implemented through 4,447 health facilities, comprising 3,774 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, 632 health centres and 41 polyclinics.‎
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‎Speaking at a media engagement in Accra on Monday, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Minister for Health, said training of regional, district and sub-district teams had been completed across all regions.‎
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‎He said 127 facilities under the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) had also received training on the FPHC policy, benefits package, financing arrangements and service delivery requirements.‎
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‎“The Government has distributed 24,534 pieces of essential equipment, more than 10,000 motorbikes and tricycles, and 5,000 outreach kits to support community-level healthcare delivery,” he said.‎
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‎Mr Akandoh said the equipment would enable health workers to extend preventive services beyond health facilities to homes, workplaces, schools, markets and other community settings.‎
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‎He said 30 prefabricated health kiosks had been completed and handed over for deployment in six regions and 30 districts to bring healthcare closer to communities.‎
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‎“The kiosks are being placed in non-traditional health service points, including markets and transport locations, to make basic healthcare more accessible to people who may otherwise find it difficult to visit conventional health facilities,” he said.‎
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‎The Minister said the Government planned to provide 30 kiosks by October 1, 2026, while a total of 217 kiosks were expected to be completed within six months.‎
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‎He said the FPHC programme was designed to enable health workers to identify health risks early, prevent illnesses where possible, provide basic treatment close to patients’ homes and refer cases requiring higher-level care.‎
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‎The programme, launched by President John Dramani Mahama in April 2026, seeks to provide essential preventive, promotive and basic curative healthcare at community level.‎
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‎Its implementation is also intended to strengthen disease prevention and early detection, as well as the treatment of illnesses.‎
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‎The FPHC package includes screening for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, blood sugar and blood pressure checks, weight and other risk assessments, as well as selected cancer and mental health screening.‎
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‎It also covers antenatal care, child health services, immunisation, growth monitoring and newborn follow-up.‎
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‎Family planning and related counselling, treatment of common conditions, including malaria, diarrhoeal diseases, and respiratory infections, nutrition education, physical activity, hygiene, and healthy lifestyle counselling are also covered.‎
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‎Mr Akandoh said patients requiring hospital admission, surgery, specialist treatment or other higher-level services would continue to access such care through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) or the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.‎
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‎He said people could access services covered under the FPHC programme regardless of their NHIS membership status.‎
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‎“Beneficiaries can access the service by visiting a participating CHPS compound or health centre, or by registering and obtaining an access code by dialling *929#, select the OTAC portal and generate an FPHC four-digit code, which remains valid for 24 hours,” he said.‎
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‎Mr Akandoh said the Government had allocated GH¢79.624 million to FPHC implementation activities as of September 5, 2026.