The Ghanaian Healthcare System: National Health Insurance, Hospitals, Emergencies, Medicines and Vaccinations

The Ghanaian system rests on levels of care linked by referral. The NHIA has accredited categories of facilities to treat its members: community units (CHPS), maternity homes, health centres, clinics and polyclinics, primary hospitals (district hospitals, CHAG faith-based hospitals, quasi-public hospitals and private hospitals), secondary and tertiary hospitals, as well as pharmacies, licensed chemical sellers and diagnostic centres. The NHIA specifies that you first go to your first-line provider, who refers you to a higher-level facility if needed: this avoids overcrowding regional and teaching hospitals.

For a foreign resident, the choice is between a facility accredited by the NHIS and a facility paid directly or through private insurance. France Diplomatie describes services of average quality, payable in advance, generally unsatisfactory infrastructure outside Accra and limited emergency capacity in the city, almost non-existent outside the large urban areas. See the guide to healthcare systems around the world and the page on health insurance in Ghana.

The NHIA was created by the National Health Insurance Act of 2003 (Act 650), replaced in October 2012 by Act 852. Its purpose is to achieve universal coverage for persons residing in the country, as well as for non-resident persons staying there on a visit. The NHIS is funded by the 2.5% levy on goods and services under VAT (the National Health Insurance Levy), by 2.5 points of monthly SSNIT contributions, by the investment returns of the national fund and by premiums from informal-sector members, supplemented by a government allocation.

• Who pays a premium: only the informal group. Exempt are employees and self-employed people who contribute to the SSNIT, people under 18, pregnant women, indigents, certain persons with disabilities, persons with mental disorders, SSNIT pensioners and people over 70. Everyone, however, pays processing or card renewal fees, apart from pregnant women and indigents.
• Validity: 12 months, with renewal at a district office, by the USSD code *929# or through the MyNHIS app; a member who is more than three months past expiry is treated as a defaulter and waits one month before accessing care.
• Waiting period: one month for a new member, except for pregnant women, people over 70 and children under 5.

The page on working in Ghana details the 18.5% SSNIT contribution, part of which funds the NHIS.

The NHIA reminds readers, citing the 2012 law, that a resident of Ghana belongs to the NHIS and may also join a private insurance scheme, and that an employer ensures that its employees are registered with the NHIS. At registration, the agent collects in particular identity, address and Ghana Card data, before taking the photograph and biometric data. For a foreigner, the National Identification Authority issues an identity card for non-citizens after 90 cumulative days of residence: see living in Ghana. An employee on a local contract who contributes to the SSNIT is exempt from the premium, on proof of active membership.

For a visitor without resident status, the Ministry of Health cites, in the list of policies in its 2026 right-to-information manual, a “National Non-Resident Visitors Health Insurance Policy”; the arrangements for applying it to visitors do not appear in the official pages consulted, and the visitor checks with the NHIA or the Ghana Immigration Service what applies to their stay. France has concluded no bilateral social security agreement with Ghana: NHIS membership therefore replaces neither cover recognised in France nor medical repatriation, which France Diplomatie considers imperative. Private insurance contracts are private contracts; the NHIA licenses insurers and intermediaries and warns that only those on its list are authorised.

The NHIA states that more than 95% of conditions are covered. Benefits include general and specialist consultations with laboratory tests, X-rays and ultrasounds, minor outpatient surgery, physiotherapy, medicines on the national list, general-ward hospitalisation with surgery, treatment of cervical and breast cancer, basic dental care (extraction, simple fillings), eye care (refraction, cataract), maternity (antenatal follow-up, normal or assisted delivery, caesarean section, postnatal follow-up) and all medical, surgical, paediatric, obstetric and accident emergencies.

• Exclusions: appliances and prostheses (optical, hearing and orthopaedic aids, dental prostheses), cosmetic surgery, antiretrovirals, assisted reproduction, dialysis for chronic kidney failure, heart and brain surgery other than after an accident, treatment of cancers other than cervical and breast cancer, organ transplants, medicines not on the list, VIP room, mortuary services and medical examinations for employment, a visa or a driving licence.
• Care abroad: the NHIS does not cover diagnosis and treatment abroad; an assistance policy or international insurance takes over.

The page on healthcare reimbursement in Ghana compares the NHIS, the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’étranger, the French social security fund for French nationals abroad) and first-euro insurance item by item.

First-line care is the entry point for NHIS members: a community unit, health centre, clinic or primary hospital designated at enrolment. The NHIA classes general practice consultations, tests and imaging examinations among outpatient benefits, along with the medicines on its list. A resident who prefers a practice or clinic outside the accredited network pays for care directly or with insurance direct billing, after checking the reimbursement conditions of their policy: the notions of reimbursement basis and out-of-pocket costs help with comparisons.

The public teaching hospitals form the top of the system. The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, in Accra, states that its emergency department (Accident & Emergency, +233 302 674 085) can be reached 24 hours a day. The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, in Kumasi, presents its 1,200 beds as open to the other regions of the country and provides emergency care 24 hours a day, with specialist and sub-specialist services and laboratories. For a stay in the north, France Diplomatie advises seeking information from the embassy.

• Emergencies: 112 connects, free of charge and around the clock, to the emergency network of the National Ambulance Service, created in 2004 under the aegis of the Ministry of Health; the French embassy gives 191 for the police, 192 for the fire service and 193 for the ambulance, and maintains an emergency line reserved for French nationals.
• Situation on the ground: France Diplomatie specifies that there is no emergency medical service or fully reliable ambulance, except under a cover contract taken out locally with specialised bodies; the embassy never bears the costs. An assistance policy with medical evacuation addresses this risk; see the guide to how a medical repatriation works.

The NHIS reimburses the medicines on its national list and the traditional medicines approved by the medicines authority, on prescription from an accredited practitioner; medicines not on the list are excluded. France Diplomatie notes that most common medicines are available in pharmacies in the capital, some of which are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It advises putting together a personal medicine kit, taking only the strictly necessary medicines in their original packaging, with a prescription giving the names of the molecules in international non-proprietary names, checking that they are authorised in the country and never taking medicines bought on the street, because of the risk of counterfeits.

A patient being treated for a chronic condition prepares their treatment before departure: the guide to the medical questionnaire and medical history explains the effect of a pre-existing condition on insurance.

France Diplomatie first reminds readers to be up to date with the French vaccination schedule (diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, whooping cough, measles). Yellow fever vaccination is compulsory, to be given at an approved centre, and valid for life; an international certificate must still be presented for an older vaccination. COVID-19 is no longer required on entry but remains strongly recommended from the age of 18. Depending on the conditions and length of the stay, the following are added: hepatitis A, typhoid fever, hepatitis B (frequent or prolonged stays), ACWY meningitis (dry season or epidemic), tuberculosis (children under 15), rabies and, depending on epidemics, chikungunya, dengue and mpox.

• Malaria: present in Ghana; prevention relies on protection against bites and on preventive treatment decided with a travel medicine doctor.
• Cholera: recurrent epidemics, particularly in the south and during the rainy season; meningitis: epidemics in the northern half, with vaccination strongly recommended for a stay in the north; Lassa fever, dengue and Zika are also among the risks described.

Details of reimbursements, from the local employee to the retiree, are on the page on healthcare reimbursement in Ghana; the page on expat health insurance gives benchmarks for comparing policies, and Expavy helps you weigh these options against your situation.