“Digital technologies present enormous opportunities for Ghana’s health system” - Dr. Wisdom Atiwato

Dr. Wisdom Atiwato, Director of Research, Statistics and Information Management at the Ministry of Health, has outlined the Ministry’s key priorities in leveraging digital technologies—particularly artificial intelligence (AI)—to strengthen Ghana’s health system.

He delivered the remarks during a press briefing ahead of the Future of Digital Countries (FDC) Summit held in Accra on Wednesday.

According to Dr. Atiwato, Ghana’s digital health journey began as far back as 2005, with a comprehensive strategy developed in 2011 and followed by consistent investment over the years.

He noted that the Ministry is currently focusing on five critical areas where technology can significantly improve health-sector performance.

The first priority, he said, is addressing rising operational complexities within the health sector.

With rapid shifts in how Ghanaians access care and how services are delivered, the Ministry is deploying digital health solutions to manage growing patient volumes, rising chronic diseases, and the increasing demand for specialized care.

Strengthening the technological infrastructure to support these changes remains central to this effort.

The second area concerns ongoing challenges in health financing.

Dr. Atiwato highlighted government interventions such as the uncapping of the National Health Insurance Scheme and the introduction of the Mahama Cares initiative.

However, he emphasized that technology remains essential in eliminating co-payments, out-of-pocket spending, and catastrophic health expenditures.

Digital systems, he said, will make these programmes more effective and more efficient.

Third, the Ministry is tackling the longstanding problem of fragmented data systems across the health sector.

“Data fragmentation is a major obstacle to technology adoption,” Dr. Atiwato stressed, adding that modern digital tools are being deployed to harmonize systems and create an environment where AI can be fully integrated and leveraged.

The fourth priority involves resolving leakages and disruptions within the health supply chain.

Digital tracking systems and automation tools are being explored to strengthen supply chain integrity and improve efficiency.

Finally, he said, effective digital transformation requires real-time visibility across all health-sector operations.

The Ministry is therefore turning to analytics and machine learning to improve decision-making and drive better outcomes across facilities.

Touching on cyber security, Dr. Atiwato noted that under the Cyber Security Act 2020, the Ministry of Health is designated as a Critical Information Infrastructure (CII).

This classification places strict legal obligations on the Ministry and its 28 agencies to comply with cybersecurity directives issued by the Cyber Security Authority.

He added that ongoing compliance efforts would greatly benefit from the support and platforms provided through the FDC initiative.

Dr. Atiwato also revealed that the Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications, is advancing work on seven major AI use cases.

These include using AI to reduce maternal mortality, deploying AI-powered clinical audit tools, and enhancing patient adherence monitoring in hospitals.

Several of these initiatives are being implemented in partnership with the UNDP.

He concluded that digital technologies present enormous opportunities for Ghana’s health system and emphasized the government’s commitment to accelerating innovation to improve service delivery nationwide.

Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith