Science and Medicine

Healthcare in Ghana

Healthcare in Ghana is mostly provided by the national government, which spends less than 5% of the GDP on healthcare. The healthcare system faces challenges with regard to access, especially in rural areas that are not close to public hospitals. Historically, the healthcare system has gone through several major periods, pre and post-colonial. In the precolonial period traditional priests, clerics, and herbalists were the primary care givers, offering advice. The use of traditional healers persists mostly in rural regions of Ghana. The post-colonial period marks the beginning of government intervention on behalf of healthcare through a variety of policies on different government regimes. Interventions were plagued with inadequate performance and rising costs for consumers. These policies culminate to the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). The NHIS is currently serves people in both the formal and informal employment sectors and seeks to increase access to healthcare for all Ghanaians. While NHIS is still in use, its performance and problems are studied by researchers to identify needed areas of reform.

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See also

• ▸Anne B. Young
• ▸Guadalajara Cathedral
• ▸Emerging infectious disease

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