The government has described its 2026 budget as the most people focused and health centred in recent years, announcing a record 34 billion Ghana cedis allocation for the health sector. However, the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), a leading health rights coalition in Ghana, warns that four persistent, important gaps threaten to undermine the potential of this investment, highlighting a disconnect between financial promises and on the ground realities.
Presented to Parliament in November 2025, the 2026 budget statement outlines a substantial commitment to health. Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh hailed the 34 billion cedis allocation, which includes 11 billion cedis for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and a 1.5 billion cedis Free Primary Healthcare package. The plan also funds three new regional hospitals and earmarks 16.7 billion cedis for personnel, promising the deployment of 700 medical doctors and timely payment of allowances.
Despite these headline figures, ARHR has identified four areas where the budget falls short during a virtual media briefing on Wednesday. These are not new issues but unresolved challenges that continue to hinder equitable healthcare access. Nana Nyarko Konadu, Programme Officer for Policy and Budget Advocacy at ARHR, highlighted the absence of a clear plan for the free sanitary pad initiative, inadequate mental health infrastructure, ongoing unemployment among health professionals, and insufficient transparency in Community Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound construction progress.
For the second year running, the budget allocates funds for free sanitary pads but provides no detailed implementation framework. Konadu explained that the government’s allocation of 292 million cedis for the sanitary pad initiative lacks an implementation framework, distribution timelines, coordination channels among ministries, and provisions for out of school adolescents.
Without a costed, time bound plan, the intervention risks becoming a policy promise without measurable impact, she said, urging the government to publish a comprehensive strategy to ensure sustainability and accountability. In April 2025, ARHR’s then Programmes Officer had highlighted this exact issue, stating the need for a detailed breakdown of costs, oversight, and funding sources.
The budget once again fails to allocate specific funds for constructing new mental health facilities or expanding existing ones. Ghana still relies on only three major psychiatric hospitals, a shortage flagged as a severe underfunding issue in the 2025 budget analysis. Konadu observed that mental health infrastructure continued to be neglected, with no funds allocated for new facilities or expansion of existing ones, despite rising demand.
The ARHR’s 2025 report noted that the budget fails to outline concrete measures to improve mental health infrastructure. This continued neglect comes despite rising mental health needs, particularly among women and girls, leaving a glaring hole in the nation’s health system.
While the budget commits funds for new infrastructure and personnel, it sidesteps the acute crisis of healthcare worker emigration and domestic unemployment. This issue has been escalating for years. In May 2025, the government acknowledged the problem, allocating 480 million cedis for nursing training allowances and proposing structured overseas deployment programs to manage the exodus.
However, the 2026 budget does not introduce new, concrete measures to address the root causes of poor pay, delayed postings, and limited career progression, which continue to push trained professionals abroad while many remain jobless at home. Konadu said that recruitment, fair compensation, and retention strategies must be prioritised to safeguard healthcare delivery and prevent loss of skilled personnel.
A major primary healthcare pledge from 2025 has now descended into ambiguity. In June 2025, the government announced a plan to construct 600 CHPS compounds by year’s end, with each district tasked to build two. The 2026 budget, however, offers no update on the status of this commitment.
Konadu called for clarity on the government’s 2025 commitment to construct two CHPS compounds per district using District Assemblies Common Fund resources, noting that no public updates had been issued on progress, funding, or timelines. There is no published information on progress, funding utilization, or completion timelines, creating a transparency gap that leaves communities in the dark about promised primary healthcare access.
While the 2026 Budget reflects commendable momentum in health sector financing, it is imperative to address these four identified deficiencies to propel Ghana toward equitable, accessible healthcare delivery, Konadu stated. The government’s increased investment is a necessary and commendable step. However, without targeted plans to build mental health facilities, retain healthcare workers, execute primary care projects, and transparently roll out social health initiatives, the budget’s transformative potential remains unrealized.
The 2026 budget was presented on November 13, 2025, by Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson under the theme Resetting for Growth, Jobs, and Economic Transformation. Parliament approved the 22.8 billion cedis allocation for the Ministry of Health, representing approximately 7.5 percent of total expenditure. This marks a significant increase compared to the 17.8 billion cedis allocated in the 2025 budget.
When the NHIS allocation and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (MahamaCare) are included, the total health sector funding rises to about 34.22 billion cedis. The MahamaCare programme, which focuses on non communicable diseases such as cancer, hypertension and diabetes, has been allocated 2.3 billion cedis and is now fully operational with a board inaugurated and a secretariat functioning.
ARHR, established in 2004, is a network of Ghanaian Non Government Organizations promoting a rights based approach to sexual and reproductive health. The organization comprises three national NGOs and 35 local NGOs working across all 16 regions of Ghana to ensure the sexual and reproductive health rights of all people, especially vulnerable groups such as the poor, marginalized and women of reproductive age, are protected and fulfilled.
