Accra, Ghana – President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama, has officially launched the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, dubbed Mahama Cares, a bold initiative aimed at providing critical financial assistance to Ghanaians suffering from chronic and life-threatening illnesses.
The Fund is designed to support patients battling serious health conditions such as kidney failure, cancer, and heart disease—ailments that often impose overwhelming medical costs on individuals and their families.
The launch event took place on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) in Accra, bringing together health professionals, policymakers, patients, and members of the public.
During the launch, President Mahama shared deeply moving real-life stories that highlighted the urgency and importance of the Fund.
THE STORY
I have a personal connection to non-communicable diseases. And that is because my father died in 2001, and he died of prostate cancer.
My mother died in 2016, and she died of complications of high blood pressure and diabetes. My stepmother died of breast cancer. I lost a friend and somebody who worked for me last year.
We celebrated one year since she passed. I’m sure most of you know Mawuena Dumor She died of breast cancer.
And currently, I have a staff in my office whose son is in his thirties and is on dialysis, he’s suffering kidney failure. And so these are not things that are far away from us. These are things that are close to us.
These are loved ones that we are talking about. And so like Professor Ayittey said, we must not see them as statistics. We must see them as real lives that we need to touch and help.
But there’s the even sadder story of one of my confidants and strong supporters when I started this whole political journey. He was an assemblyman, and he was an executive of our party in Bole Bamboi, where I started my political career as a member of parliament. Very close to me.
Went everywhere with me. Anytime I went back to the constituency, he was in charge of the southern zone. And so anywhere I went, he went with me.
And a few years back, he started to have a problem with his kidneys. And so at the time, there was no dialysis in the north of Kumasi. And so if you had kidney failure anywhere above Kumasi, you had to travel to Kumasi to do dialysis.
And so he used to travel from Bole Bamboi like once every week to do dialysis. And the cost was unbearable.
I tried to help as much as I could. Eventually, he needed more, you know, dialysis treatment. And so he couldn’t be going and coming.
So he had to move his whole family to stay in Kumasi, rent accommodation in Kumasi,so that he could be close to Komfo Anokye where he was undertaking the dialysis. He sold his motorbike, sold his TV. And much as I also tried to support, the cost was becoming unbearable.
Eventually, he died. And he died leaving poverty behind, because he sold all his assets to be able to look after himself. And so we had to take care to support some of the children to be able to finish school and all that.
These are real stories. And that is why what we’re doing today is important, because it will touch a lot of lives and help a lot of our fellow citizens.
But let me say that this program must be linked and will be linked to our primary health care project, which we are yet to launch.
President Mahama emphasized that no Ghanaian should be denied access to life-saving treatment simply because they cannot afford it.
The Mahama Cares initiative, he explained, represents a commitment to compassion, equity, and the belief that healthcare must be accessible to all—regardless of socio-economic status.
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh(#RomeoWrites
) / Ahotoronline.com | Ghana 
