Government is pursuing a five year strategic plan to strengthen Ghana's pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and enable the country to produce a greater share of the medicines it currently imports, President John Dramani Mahama has said.
He said the initiative is aimed at achieving self sufficiency in the production of essential medicines while positioning Ghana as a hub for supplying pharmaceutical products to neighbouring countries.
Mahama disclosed this last Thursday at a Free Primary Healthcare durbar in Zuarungu, in the Bolgatanga East District, as part of his Reset Agenda tour of the Upper East Region.
He said Ghana currently imports about 70 per cent of the medicines used in the country, despite having the capacity to manufacture many of them locally, a situation he said places a significant burden on the country's health financing system and could affect the availability and affordability of medicines for patients.
"Something very important happened in my office two days ago," Mahama said, explaining that representatives of the National Vaccine Institute, the Ministry of Health and allied institutions, including the Pharmaceutical Association of Ghana, had presented him with a plan setting out how the country could achieve self sufficiency in drug production over a five year period.
"In that plan, when I was listening, we import 70 per cent of the drugs that we use. But we have the capacity to produce those drugs here ourselves," he said, adding that the roadmap would help build the capacity of the pharmaceutical industry and reduce the country's dependence on foreign suppliers.
Mahama said the goal was not only to manufacture medicines for domestic consumption, but to grow the industry to a point where it could export pharmaceutical products to neighbouring countries. He said increased local production would have a direct bearing on the cost of medicines and government's ability to fund treatment for citizens. "If we're able to do that, it will allow us to procure the drugs at a cheaper cost," he said.
He explained that producing medicines locally would reduce the country's exposure to external supply pressures and make it easier for government to provide essential medicines to patients, particularly at the primary healthcare level, adding that this was especially important as government expands access to care through its preventive healthcare programmes.
Government, Mahama said, remains committed to creating the conditions needed for pharmaceutical manufacturers to expand operations and produce medicines that meet the needs of the Ghanaian population. He said the country had already signed agreements with different drug manufacturing companies to support the supply of medicines while domestic production is scaled up. "For now, we've signed agreements with different drug manufacturing companies. And so, we will get those drugs to you," he said, noting that the arrangements would help supply medicines to patients diagnosed with long term conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
He said developing the pharmaceutical industry went beyond meeting domestic needs, and was also about serving export markets, generating foreign exchange and creating jobs. The five year roadmap, he said, would help transform Ghana from a major importer of medicines into a producer and exporter, making healthcare more sustainable, accessible and affordable.
The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, said more than 24,000 pieces of equipment are being distributed nationwide under the Free Primary Healthcare programme, including 9,000 health kits, of which 1,320 have been earmarked for the Upper East Region. He said the programme has started in 150 of the country's 261 districts, with underserved areas prioritised, and will be extended nationwide by the end of 2028.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority in charge of Finance and Investment, Anatu Anne Seidu Bogobiri, said government had cleared GH¢963 million in outstanding provider claims as of April last year, with more than GH¢2 billion paid to providers in 2025, including over GH¢150 million to providers in the Upper East Region. From January to July 2026, she said GH¢1.4 billion had been paid nationwide, with Upper East receiving over GH¢100 million.
She said active NHIS membership rose from 54 per cent in 2024 to 66 per cent in 2025 and 76 per cent by June 2026, an increase she said reflected improved access to and confidence in the scheme. She added that the NHIS had released GH¢36 million to 107 district facilities to support the Free Primary Healthcare programme, with the Upper East Region receiving about GH¢4.2 million for 14 facilities.
