The Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Kingsley Agyemang, has criticized the government’s proposed Ghana Medical Trust Fund (Mahama Cares), arguing that the initiative alone cannot address the rising deaths caused by Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Ghana.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament during debate on the State of the Nation Address delivered by President John Dramani Mahama, the lawmaker said the scale of the NCD crisis demands more comprehensive and bold policy interventions.
Quoting the President’s own remarks in the address, Dr. Agyemang noted that non-communicable diseases account for over 40 percent of all deaths in Ghana and remain a major contributor to household poverty.
“In a nutshell, what the President is telling us is that one out of every two deaths that happen in this country is as a result of non-communicable diseases,” he said.
According to him, the statistics point to a major national health challenge that requires a much stronger response from government.
“If you are a President of a country and you are confronted with such a situation where one out of two deaths happens because of NCDs, then clearly you are dealing with a very big problem,” he stated.
However, the MP questioned whether the proposed Ghana Medical Trust Fund, popularly known as Mahama Cares, is sufficient to address the magnitude of the problem.
“You have this huge problem that you are confronted with as President and your solution was the creation of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund. Big problems require big solutions,” he said.
Dr. Agyemang further expressed concern about the financing approach for the initiative, arguing that resources are being drawn from an already struggling health financing system.
“For this solution to feature prominently in the State of the Nation Address is very, very unfortunate. We cannot continue this way,” he stated.
The Abuakwa South MP called for more sustainable and rigorous financing mechanisms to strengthen the country’s healthcare system and effectively tackle the rising burden of non-communicable diseases.
“There should be more rigorous financing for healthcare. Policies must be very thoughtful and we must take the people of this country very seriously,” he said.
He added that while improving healthcare access for citizens is essential, policies must be carefully designed to ensure they produce real results.
“Making healthcare accessible to Ghanaians irrespective of socio-economic status does not mean you must hurry to implement a policy that will not benefit the people,” he stressed.
Dr. Agyemang concluded that addressing the growing NCD crisis requires broader and more strategic interventions beyond the Mahama Cares initiative.
“One out of two deaths cannot be solved by the creation of Mahama Cares,” he said.
