He said: “We are now operating in an environment where the fiscal space is shrinking, making it difficult for us to procure critical public goods and services at the operational level.

“With the partnership support also dwindling we must, as a sector, begin to look at how to become even more efficient in our operations”.

Mr Agyeman-Manu made the recommendations at the opening of the 2018 Annual Health Summit in Accra, on Monday, which is on the theme: “Achieving Universal Health Coverage-Using Innovative Approaches”.

“We must begin to look critically at our operations and map out areas where we can make efficiency gains by opening up our services for private sector involvement,” he advised

The Minister explained that achieving UHC was not just about fund mobilisation, but also about efficiency in the use of scarce funds, saying, “We do not need additional foreign funds for all our activities”.

To push Domestic Resource Mobilisation the Ministry had set up a Resource Mobilisation Unit.

He called for strengthened stakeholders’ collaboration, especially with the private sector to achieve access to quality healthcare services at all levels.  The Health Minister said although the Sector had recorded successes there were still challenges in the area of staffing, equitable access to health, financing, and in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, among others.

He also mentioned the poor state of National Ambulance Service, (NAS) and asked for re-examining the model of such a facility to meet the emergency needs of the country.The NAS, he said, could not thrive on budgetary allocations, but needed a dedicated funding mechanism that ensured that its operations were sustainable in the longer term.

The Summit, would among other things, review the 2017 implementation of its Programme of Work, to strengthen achievements and strategise to fill the gaps.

  Dr  Rebecca Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation’s Regional Director of for Africa, applauded Ghana for the numerous successes and efforts towards achieving UHC, saying the country was the light to many others in the continent in terms of innovative health financing, such as the National Health Insurance Scheme.

  She reaffirmed the support of the WHO towards ensuring that all countries achieved UHC without any financial burden on the poor.