The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has emphasized the need for stronger health systems, effective patient navigation, and improved primary healthcare services to ensure safe and continuous care for persons living with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This call was made by Dr. Caroline Amissah Reindorf, Deputy Director-General of the GHS, at the commemoration of the 2026 National Patient Safety Day in Accra. The event, organized by the GHS, had the theme: “Safe Care for Noncommunicable Diseases,” with the slogan: “Safe Care for Life!”
Dr. Amissah Reindorf stressed that patient safety must go beyond a single hospital visit and cover the entire continuum of care, particularly for people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. She noted that people living with NCDs often require care for many years, making proper medication, regular check-ups, follow-up, and effective referral systems critical to their safety. The Deputy Director-General described patient navigation as a potential “game-changer” under the Government’s free primary healthcare initiative.
Dr. Amissah Reindorf highlighted the challenges faced by patients navigating health facilities, citing the need for someone to guide them through the process without unnecessary delays. She urged health facilities to examine whether their systems adequately supported patients throughout the referral process and provided feedback on whether patients had successfully accessed care. The Deputy Director-General also emphasized that safe care went beyond prescribing medicines to ensuring that patients could obtain them and understood how to use them.
The Deputy Director-General revealed that Ghana had identified gaps in some health facilities, including challenges with infection prevention, clean water, sanitation, and other basic services. She urged stakeholders to work continuously to address these gaps. Dr. Amissah Reindorf also emphasized that expanding primary healthcare could help detect diseases such as hypertension and diabetes early and ensure timely referral and treatment before complications developed.
Dr. Fiona Braka, WHO Country Representative, echoed the importance of patient safety in achieving better health outcomes for people living with NCDs. She noted that NCDs accounted for a significant proportion of premature deaths and disability globally, while their increasing burden in Africa was placing additional demands on health systems. Dr. Braka emphasized that people living with NCDs often required lifelong care, creating multiple opportunities for preventable harm.
Dr. Braka cited WHO estimates that one in every 10 patients experienced harm during healthcare globally, with nearly half of such harm being preventable. She stressed that safe care was not only the responsibility of health workers but a shared responsibility requiring strong systems, informed patients, accountable institutions, and sustained leadership. The WHO Country Representative emphasized the need for sustained collaboration among policymakers, health workers, patients, communities, development partners, and other stakeholders.
The event also saw the launch of the orange color for the celebration, as Dr. Lawrence Ofori Boadu, Director of the Institutional Care Division of the GHS, urged the public to regularly check their health status and seek early care when health problems were identified. The speakers called for sustained collaboration to make safe, effective, timely, and respectful care for NCDs a reality in Ghana.
Key points
- The Ghana Health Service calls for stronger health systems to ensure safe care for persons living with noncommunicable diseases.
- Patient navigation is critical to ensuring safe and continuous care for persons living with NCDs.
- Expanding primary healthcare can help detect NCDs early and ensure timely referral and treatment.
