The Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Mr Mohammed Abdul Salam, has assured the Ghana Medical Trust Fund of the Authority’s commitment to collaborate with them to find sustainable ways of supporting regional and teaching hospitals with essential medical equipment and resources across the country.

Obuobia Darko-Opoku, Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, and her team, on Wednesday, 22 October, called on the Director-General of NLA, Mr Abdul-Salam, and the Deputy Director-General, Mr Eric Yeboah Wadie, to discuss potential areas of collaboration aimed at enhancing healthcare delivery.

Highlighting the urgent need to upgrade health facilities nationwide, Obuobia Darko-Opoku pointed out that many hospitals operate under dire conditions, lacking essential diagnostic and treatment equipment such as MRI and CT scan machines, dialysis units, and breast screening facilities.

She explained that the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, established under Act 114, has begun a comprehensive needs assessment of all six teaching hospitals and ten regional hospitals in Ghana, and the findings reveal significant gaps in equipment and infrastructure that require urgent attention.

“Our health facilities are on their knees, and we can no longer pretend about it. When you visit some of these hospitals, you leave wondering how our healthcare system is surviving.

The government alone cannot carry the burden. We are inviting corporate institutions to partner with us in retooling our hospitals so that together we can make a lasting difference.” She said.

She urged the NLA to consider supporting specific hospital projects as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, emphasising that such partnerships would have a lasting impact on healthcare delivery in Ghana.

In response, the Director-General of the NLA, Mr Mohammed Abdul-Salam, commended the Ghana Medical Trust Fund for its commitment to improving healthcare and assured them of the NLA’s willingness to collaborate with them. He stated that the Authority’s leadership is open to exploring mechanisms for regular contributions to the Fund as part of its CSR framework.

“I believe strongly that if we treat healthcare funding as a shared responsibility, we can achieve great things together. The idea of supporting the Ghana Medical Trust Fund aligns perfectly with our CSR objectives. We could even consider adopting one project at a time and see it through to completion.” Mr Abdul-Salam said.

Mr Abdul-Salam further noted that partnerships like this reinforce the broader national agenda of using proceeds from the lottery to support good causes and improve the well-being of Ghanaians.

The Deputy Director-General of NLA, Mr Eric Yeboah Wadie, expressed excitement at the partnership and reiterated the Authority’s preparedness to support initiatives that make a difference in society.

The NLA and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund share the common goal of contributing to national development and improving the lives of Ghanaians. Together, they can ensure that essential health facilities receive support while the lives of numerous individuals are improved across the country.