How Ghana Is Strengthening Its Public Health Emergency Systems

Rafiu Zakaria -
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Building a Pandemic-Ready Nation: How Ghana Is Strengthening Its Public Health Emergency Systems

Ghana Health Service officials at the National Public Health Emergency Operations Centre during a preparedness exercise.


When the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi, declared in February 2026 that "pandemics will come back 100%, it's just a matter of time," his warning carried the weight of recent history: Ebola, COVID-19, and now Mpox. For Ghana, this is not a distant threat but an immediate operational reality. Over the past five years, the country has systematically transformed its public health emergency architecture from a reactive, crisis-driven model into a coordinated, science-driven system that is increasingly serving as a model for West Africa. This article provides a comprehensive, data-driven examination of Ghana's evolving health security infrastructure, the strategic frameworks guiding its development, the persistent gaps demanding attention, and the vision of self-reliance now being operationalized across the nation.

The Strategic Foundation: International Health Regulations and National Action Plans

Ghana's health security journey is anchored by the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005, a legally binding global framework adopted by 196 countries. What distinguishes Ghana is not merely its compliance but its demonstrated commitment to exceeding mandatory requirements. According to Dr. Samuel Akoriyea Kaba, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the country has implemented all four components of the WHO's IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework State Party Annual Reporting (SPAR), Joint External Evaluation (JEE), After Action Reviews, and Simulation Exercises even though only one is mandatory.

This commitment is evidenced by concrete action. Ghana completed its second Joint External Evaluation in February 2025, replacing the inaugural 2017 assessment. The findings directly informed the country's first National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), implemented from 2019 to 2023, and are now shaping the next planning cycle. As Dr. Kaba stated, this process "reflects the country's determination to continuously improve its health security architecture".

The results of this sustained commitment are measurable. Mr. Patrick Avevor, Infectious Hazard Management System lead at GHS, revealed that approximately half of the country's assessed technical areas are now rated at Level 3 capacity, compared to about 40 per cent previously a significant, quantified improvement in national preparedness.

Infrastructure and Systems: From National Coordination to Subnational Reach

Strategic plans require physical infrastructure. Under the first NAPHS, Ghana achieved several critical milestones that now form the backbone of its emergency response architecture.

The Emergency Operations Centre Network

At the apex stands the refurbished National Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC). This upgraded facility serves as the country's "nerve centre" for public health emergencies, integrating real-time data, expert analysis, and coordinated decision-making. Critically, this national capacity has been systematically decentralized. Ghana has established four subnational emergency operations centres, with explicit plans to extend coverage to all 16 regions . This expansion transforms emergency response from an Accra-centric function to a truly national capability.

Timeline infographic showing Ghana's health security milestones from 2017 to 2026


Points of Entry: The First Line of Defence

In December 2025, the Public Health Division of GHS convened a two-day engagement bringing together staff from land, sea, and air Points of Entry (PoEs) across the country. The objective was unambiguous: harmonize port health operations, review performance, and refine emergency preparedness plans. This exercise, which included direct engagement with the Acting Director-General, signals that border health security is now a standing priority, not an intermittent concern [citation:10]. This focus is further reinforced by a major new CDC funding opportunity, explicitly expanded to include "surveillance and laboratory capacity strengthening in border districts"

Laboratory Networks and Workforce Development

A public health emergency response is only as strong as the laboratory system backing it. Ghana has achieved ISO 15189:2012 accreditation for the National Public Health and Reference Laboratory and established molecular testing laboratories in multiple regions. The 2026 Budget Statement confirmed that forensic laboratories for DNA and toxicology analysis are under development, while Centhe tre for Plant Medicine Research has validated the long-term efficacy of four herbal medicines, underscoring Ghana's growing leadership in traditional medicine research.
Workforce expansion has proceeded in parallel. The National Ambulance Service trained 500 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and 6,000 youth as first-aid responders. Health training institutions added 930 new residents, 2,104 specialist nurses, and several newly accredited teaching centres. All outstanding nursing allowances have been paid, and admission fees for trainee nurses have been reduced by half.

The Pandemic Fund and International Investment

Ghana's health security ambitions are supported by substantial international partnership. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced a new funding opportunity through Assistance Listing 93.318, titled "Protecting and Improving Global Public Health: Strengthening and Sustaining Public Health Systems in Ghana." With $125 million in program funding expected to be awarded beginning September 2026, this NOFO explicitly builds upon laboratory, surveillance, emergency response, and workforce development activities previously funded by CDC to enhance Global Health Security.

Critically, this new investment expands beyond traditional surveillance to include sequencing and bioinformatics capacity the advanced genomic tools essential for identifying and tracking novel pathogens. It also specifically targets border districts, addressing a gap identified in both the JEE and the government's own assessments .

Domestic financing, however, remains a concern. While the government increased health sector allocation from GHS 17.8 billion in 2025 to GHS 22.8 billion in 2026, civil society organizations like Hope for Future Generations (HFFG) note that this still falls short of the 15% target set under the Abuja Declaration. HFFG has called for a dedicated immunisation budget line and accelerated investment in the Ghana Vaccine Institute to boost local vaccine production as Gavi's co-financing support phases out 

System Readiness: Beyond Buildings to Functional Capacity

Ghana Port Health officer conducting public health screening at a Point of Entry.


Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has articulated a crucial distinction that applies as much to emergency response as to surgical care: "Safe surgery depends on system readiness." His formulation is worth quoting at length because it captures the operational philosophy now guiding Ghana's health security investments:

"Sterilisation systems, reliable oxygen supply, timely diagnosis, functional theatres, intensive care support, blood availability, resilient supply chains and effective infection-prevention protocols form the true infrastructure of patient safety. These are not secondary conditions. They are the infrastructure of safety." 

This emphasis on readiness rather than mere presence is being operationalized through specific investments. The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has been uncapped to ensure stable financing for critical health programmes, including vaccines, essential medical commodities, HIV services, and the Free Primary Health Care initiative [citation:3][citation:8]. A comprehensive climate vulnerability assessment has been conducted to guide national responses to climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria and cholera. Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) has been elevated to a national strategy.

Demonstrated Capability: Recent Outbreak Containment

These systems are not theoretical. The 2026 Budget Statement documented that Ghana successfully contained outbreaks of Mpox, meningitis, and cholera through active surveillance and response systems. This is consistent with our detailed reporting on the Mpox vaccination campaign, which documented the arrival of 20,000 vaccine doses and a targeted 21-day vaccination exercise in high-risk districts. The Ministry of Health's ability to rapidly deploy vaccines, coordinate with WHO and Africa CDC, and implement community-based surveillance in border areas demonstrates that the infrastructure described in planning documents is operationally functional.

Persistent Gaps: The Work That Remains

Ghanaian Emergency Medical Technicians trained under the National Ambulance Service expansion program.


For all the progress, Ghana's health security architects are strikingly candid about remaining vulnerabilities. Dr. Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director of Public Health at GHS, has identified several critical areas requiring urgent attention 

  • Ring-fenced funding for health security – Sustainable, protected budget lines rather than crisis-driven allocations.
  • Improved laboratory networks and sample transportation systems – Reducing turnaround times and ensuring quality across all regions.
  • Well-equipped points of entry – Border health infrastructure that matches the ambition of the surveillance frameworks.
  • Enhanced capacity to manage nuclear and chemical events – A reminder that health security extends beyond infectious diseases.

The identification of 232 unlicensed mortuaries and the subsequent training of 800 attendants in safe mortuary practices further illustrates the scale of regulatory and quality assurance work still required across the health system 

As Dr. Asiedu-Bekoe stressed, health security "remains a continuous process rather than a final destination" 

The Strategic Vision: From Dependency to Self-Reliance

The most significant shift in Ghana's health security trajectory may be philosophical rather than technical. WHO Regional Director Dr. Janabi articulated this transformation with uncommon clarity: "You know very well not to give people the fish but to give them the fishing rod." 

This principle is now being operationalized in Ghana through deliberate capacity-building. The WHO is training local search teams so that "when it happens, you don't have to call people from outside." Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, Dr. Janabi noted, have successfully managed outbreaks with minimal external support because "they did it themselves. We just went there, put some technical stuff there just to help"

This vision of African self-reliance in pandemic response earlier detection, more resilient primary health care, and regional manufacturing is no longer aspirational. It is the explicit strategy guiding WHO's engagement with Ghana and the continent.

Conclusion: A System in Continuous Construction

Ghana's public health emergency systems have undergone a remarkable evolution over the past five years. The infrastructure is increasingly in place: a second JEE completed, a NAPHS cycle concluded and another beginning, national and subnational emergency operations centres operational, laboratory accreditation achieved, border surveillance strengthened, and a $125 million CDC investment on the horizon. The country has demonstrated its capacity to contain Mpox, meningitis, and cholera outbreaks while simultaneously expanding its health workforce and infrastructure.

Yet the candid assessments from GHS's own leadership ring-fenced funding unresolved, sample transportation systems needing improvement, chemical event preparedness nascent underscore that this is not a story of mission accomplished. It is, rather, a story of sustained commitment to continuous improvement.

As we have documented in our analysis of public health emergency response systems, effective crisis response is not the absence of disaster but the capacity to absorb, adapt, and transform. Ghana's evolving health security architecture demonstrates that capacity. Whether it can be sustained and deepened through domestic financing, through institutional memory, through the translation of infrastructure into readiness will determine not only the country's resilience to the next pandemic but its ability to protect its citizens from the full spectrum of health threats, predictable and unforeseen.

The pandemics will come. Ghana is building the fishing rod.

Join the Discussion

What questions do you still have about Ghana's preparedness for public health emergencies? Are there specific systems, gaps, or recent outbreaks you would like us to investigate further? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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About the Writer

Zakaria Abdul-Rafiu is a writer and Forest Resource Technology student at KNUST with a specialist focus on health security, infectious disease surveillance, and the interface between environmental systems and public health. His reporting on Ghana's Mpox outbreak and health system development has been cited for its rigorous use of primary government and institutional sources. He is a regular contributor to VoltFeed's coverage of national resilience and development policy.
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