Ghana

The Constitution of Ghana does not provide a justiciable right to health. However, the right to good health care as a ‘basic human right’ is recognized as part of its Directive Principles of State Policy under Article 34 of the Constitution.

According to Article 34(2) of the Constitution, the President shall report to Parliament on the steps taken to ensure the realization of the policy objectives including those relating to the right to good health care. In addition to this, Article 190 establishes the Ghana Health Service as a part of the public services of Ghana.

The main goal of the National Health Policy: Ensuring Healthy Lives for All (Revised Edition of January 2020) is to promote, restore, and maintain good health for all people living in Ghana (page 16).

The policy identifies five main objectives: to strengthen the healthcare delivery system to be resilient, to encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyles, to improve the physical environment, to improve the socio-economic status of the population, and to ensure sustainable financing for health (pages 18-31).

In the introductory and situation analysis sections, the policy references the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, which mandates the state to ensure the realization of the right to good healthcare for all people living in Ghana (page 16).

The policy recognizes health care regulation as one of the focus areas for health delivery strengthening and dedicates strategy 3.1.6 to enhancing the enforcement of healthcare regulation. Existing health regulatory agencies (e.g., FDA, MDC, NMC, Pharm C, HeFRA, AHC, and TAMC) will be supported to execute their mandates fairly, and new frameworks will be established for unregulated areas like diagnostic imaging and organ transplants.(pages 19-20; 22).

The main goal of the Health Sector Medium-Term Development Plan 2022-2025 is to increase access to quality essential health care and population-based services for all by 2030 (pages xi, 19).

The plan identifies several priorities, objectives, and strategies, including ensuring universal access to better and efficiently managed quality health care services, reducing avoidable maternal, adolescent, and child deaths and disabilities, and increasing access to responsive clinical and public health emergency services (page 19).

The plan highlights some legislative documents in its introductory and situation analysis parts. They are, for example, the Civil Service Act of 1993 and the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act of 1996 referenced as foundational legislative frameworks that guide the Ministry of Health's mandate for policy formulation, monitoring, evaluation, resource allocation, and regulation of the health sector (page 16).

The Health Sector Medium Term Development Plan identifies the strengthening of the health regulatory bodies for improved efficiency as one of its priority interventions (3.1.3.5.16, pages 21, 39). Furthermore, the Plan identifies the Health Sector Regulation Programme as one of the key 4 programmes which aims to maintain standards in the sector through three sub-programs: regulation of health facilities, health professionals, and pharmaceutical and medical products.