Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, says the government is recruiting 16,000 health professionals to support the implementation of the government Free Primary Health Care (FPHC) programme towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

He said so far 8,000 health professionals had been recruited and posted to various health facilities across the country, while plans were advanced for the recruitment of additional 8,000 personnel.

Mr Akandoh said this at Fian in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District at the weekend during a durbar on the FPHC programme, which culminated into the presentation of home-visit kits and motorbikes for the programme.

He expressed happiness that the health professionals were accepting postings to “deprived” areas, including the Upper West region.

“This year, by the grace of God, we have a number of health professionals who have accepted posting to this part of the country.

Last year, by the grace of God, about 20 medical doctors accepted posting to this region (Upper West region), in 2024, we had only two”, the Minister explained.

He attributed that to the government’s directive that health professionals who resumed duty should be processed, mechanised and paid within their first month.

Mr Akandoh added that some 13,500 nurses inherited by the President Mahama-led government had been placed on the payroll and their arrears cleared.

He said the interventions by the government would ensure that healthcare services were available, accessible, and affordable to all citizens.

He indicated that the FPHC programme would also prioritise prevention and early detection of non-communicable diseases, including hypertension and diabetes.

The Minister disclosed that 24,000 pieces of basic equipment had been distributed to primary healthcare facilities across the country to support the programme implementation, with an additional 12,000 pieces expected in the coming week.

He added that 5,000 health kits, containing basic equipment for house-to-house visits, had been distributed, with another 5,000 expected to be delivered in the coming week.

Mr Akandoh urged health professionals to deliver quality care as the government was paying for the services.

“The services are free to the ordinary Ghanaian, but the services are not free to government. So, government is paying for the services you are rendering”, he said.

The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, announced that the government was working to improve the conditions of service for health workers, including providing incentives for those accepting postings to underserved areas.

He said health workers posted to such areas would receive an additional 20 per cent of their basic salary as an incentive when processes were completed.

“We are also improving the conditions in every district, improving the roads, providing water, electricity, and everything so that it makes your lives easier in your facilities”, he explained.

On his part, Dr Samuel Akoriyea, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, said the FPHC programme was yielding the expected results.

He said over 54,000 households had been assessed during the first week of its implementation, with health workers conducting over 12,016 home visits.

He added that the exercise had resulted in over 200 first antenatal visits, over 500 follow-up visits, 1,317 immunisations and growth monitoring sessions, and 675 new cases of non-communicable diseases identified.

In the Upper West Region, Dr Akoriyea said 5,749 households had so far been registered and over 590 home visits conducted since the programme began on September 7, 2026.