The Ashanti Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) held its 2025 Health Sector Performance Review under the theme “Free Primary Healthcare: Closing Equity Gaps and Accelerating Universal Health Coverage.”

The review, held at the Lancaster Hotel in Kumasi, aimed to evaluate achievements, ensure accountability and outline strategies to improve healthcare delivery across the region.

This annual exercise forms part of a sector‑wide approach to assess progress against key health targets, including reducing mortality rates and advancing universal health coverage. It also provides a holistic assessment of the sector using administrative data to measure year‑on‑year performance.

Speaking at the event, the Ashanti Regional Health Director, Dr Fred Adomako Boateng, welcomed stakeholders and highlighted critical thematic areas such as non‑communicable diseases, supply‑chain management, and maternal and perinatal mortality.

After presenting the region’s performance, challenges and way forward, he raised serious concerns about the state of the Regional Medical Store.

“The Regional Medical Store is a congested area,” he stated.

He explained that the facility, constructed in 1978, was designed to serve a much smaller population.

“At the time, Ghana’s population was about 8.5 million, and Ashanti Region had roughly 1.3 million people. Most of the hospitals we see today were not in existence, and many were only health posts,” he noted.

Dr Adomako Boateng stressed that, with the significant increase in health facilities and population growth, the current warehouse can no longer meet the region’s needs.

He further raised concerns about the growing burden of non‑communicable diseases in the region, particularly hypertension and diabetes.

“Non-communicable diseases, especially hypertension, remain one of the major health challenges we are facing in the region. We recorded 4.1% of such cases, which is quite disturbing when compared to the national target of 5%. Additionally, diabetes cases stood at 1.5% in 2025,” he added.

The review brought together key stakeholders, including medical directors, district directors, medical superintendents, physician assistants, community health nurses and midwives, development partners, traditional authorities, clergy and other sector players.