"No patient must be turned away due to ‘No-Bed syndrome'" - Prez. Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to eliminate the “no-bed syndrome” in Ghana’s health facilities, emphasizing that patients seeking emergency care must receive attention even under makeshift conditions.

He made the statement during the 2026 State of the Nation Address delivered on the floor of Parliament on Friday.

Addressing Parliament, President Mahama highlighted the government’s comprehensive health agenda under the Mahama Care initiative, Ghana’s first nationwide financing mechanism for chronic and non-communicable diseases.

The program has already increased NHIA enrollment from 57% to 66% and doubled public sector health employment to approximately 200,000 workers, while workforce density rose from 16.6 to nearly 42 per 10,000 people.

To strengthen service delivery, the government has absorbed over 13,500 nurses and midwives, hundreds of doctors and pharmacists, regularized nursing trainee allowances, and extended the low-fee stress initiative.

Future plans include expanding recruitment, correcting workforce maldistribution with incentives for underserved areas, and scaling up specialist nursing training in cardiology, nephrology, endocrinology, oncology, emergency, and critical care.

On infrastructure, President Mahama confirmed budget provisions for new regional hospitals in Oti, Savannah, and Western North regions, alongside expansions at Ridge Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, the police hospital, La General Hospital, and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital maternity and children’s block.

The President also outlined strategic investments in local pharmaceutical and vaccine production, including $15 million in seed funding for the National Vaccine Institute and local production of snake venom antiserum.

Ghana will also produce tetanus-diphtheria vaccines this year through a partnership with an Indonesian firm, while the government has strengthened immunization financing, fully funding vaccines for children and pregnant women and introducing the HPV vaccine.

“These interventions are part of our commitment to build a stronger, more resilient, and self-reliant health system for all Ghanaians,” President Mahama stated, underlining that no patient should ever be turned away due to lack of a bed.

Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith