The Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF) has warned that “the cost of inaction will be catastrophic” after a nationwide needs-assessment tour of teaching and regional hospitals revealed severe gaps in critical medical equipment.
The assessment, led by the Administrator of the Fund, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, uncovered widespread equipment shortages and breakdowns that threaten the delivery of life-saving care, ahead of the official rollout of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.
For weeks, the GMTF leadership has engaged hospital management across the country to gather first-hand information on the state of health infrastructure. The findings, according to the Fund, paint a troubling picture of a health system under immense strain.
The Ghana Medical Trust Fund—an initiative of President John Mahama—is designed to provide financial support for Ghanaians battling serious and costly chronic illnesses such as cancer, kidney failure, and heart disease, conditions that are not fully covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Beyond patient support, the Fund also seeks to strengthen specialised care and prevent families from being pushed into poverty by medical costs.
Speaking on the outcome of the tour, Ms. Darko-Opoku said the revelations point to a looming crisis caused by the absence or breakdown of essential diagnostic and treatment equipment.
She cited the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital) as a striking example, noting that despite attending to nearly 1,000 patients daily, the facility lacks a CT scanner, MRI machine, mammography machine, and fluoroscopy unit.
“These are fundamental tools required for timely and accurate diagnosis of non-communicable diseases, trauma cases, obstetric emergencies, and complex medical conditions,” she stressed.
In the Western Region, the situation at Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital is equally dire. According to the GMTF boss, the facility cannot boast of a functional CT scan, MRI machine, or reliable ventilators.
At the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, she said the story is no different. “They have no MRI, no functional mammogram, no radiotherapy machines. The system is stretched. Patients are desperate. Doctors are doing their best, but they cannot do magic,” she lamented.
The situation in the north, she added, is particularly alarming. At the Tamale Teaching Hospital—the only tertiary referral facility serving all five northern regions as well as parts of Bono East and Oti—the MRI machine has been non-functional for nearly a decade. The hospital’s 64-slice CT scanner is also down, leaving only a 16-slice machine operating on a limited basis at the Accident and Emergency Unit. The facility, she said, also lacks mammography and fluoroscopy machines.
“These challenges cut across almost all the hospitals we visited,” Madam Darko-Opoku noted, describing them as near-crisis conditions confronting the health sector.
It was against this backdrop that the GMTF leadership met with the KGL Group on Thursday 11th December, 2025 to seek strategic support from Corporate Ghana. During the engagement, Madam Darko-Opoku made a passionate appeal to KGL Group CEO, Alex Dadey, to partner the Fund in procuring critical equipment for health facilities nationwide.
The meeting builds on earlier discussions and moves both institutions closer to a structured, long-term collaboration aimed at reducing the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in Ghana.
Mr. Dadey expressed strong commitment to supporting the Ghana Medical Trust Fund as it prepares to expand patient support, strengthen specialist training, invest in critical health infrastructure, and advance equitable access to healthcare.
He reaffirmed KGL Group’s readiness to take bold, meaningful, and actionable steps aligned with the Trust Fund’s priority interventions.