The Ghana Medical Trust Fund, commonly referred to as MahamaCares, has ruled out financial support for medical treatment outside of Ghana and announced that access to assistance under the scheme will be through specialist referrals at approved hospitals.

The Administrator of the Fund, Mrs Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku at a press conference in Accra on Monday [May 11, 2026] explained that the Fund’s governing law limits support strictly to treatment within Ghana.

“Let me announce here and now, we do not support any funding outside the borders of this country,” she said at the government's weekly press briefings in Accra dubbed the Government Accountability Series.

Mrs Darko-Opoku added that patients seeking support for treatment abroad, including countries such as India, would not be covered by the scheme.

“So if you see many people tagging us on Facebook and all other networks and asking us to support a patient who wants to take a trip to India to get further treatment, please count the Ghana Medical Trust Fund out,” she said.

She explained that the arrangement formed part of measures to support specialised healthcare delivery within the country.

Referral system

Mrs Darko-Opoku said access to the Fund would be initiated by specialist clinicians at 29 hospitals across the country.

According to her, patients would not be allowed to apply directly at the Secretariat for support.

“The patient support programme will be delivered through enlisted hospitals. Applications are initiated by specialist clinicians via dedicated digital platforms,” she said.

Mrs Darko-Opoku explained that only patients whose conditions fall within the approved list would be enrolled by their treating specialists.

She said patient navigators stationed at the hospitals would guide beneficiaries through treatment procedures and follow-up care.

“I think that because the specialists are the ones that are onboarding the patients, that’s helpful,” she said.

“They know what you’re going through. They even see those who need help and those who do not need help.”

She added that some patient navigators would visit patients in their homes to find out why they had missed hospital appointments.

Governance

Responding to concerns about whether the referral arrangement could disadvantage vulnerable patients in remote areas, Mrs Darko-Opoku said structures had been put in place to maintain accountability.

She said the system included a Board of Trustees, four subcommittees and independent auditors.

On concerns raised by the Renal Patients Association of Ghana over possible delays in accessing support, she said she would first study the issues before commenting publicly.

“I will understand the issues before I make a comment about it,” she said.

Mrs Darko-Opoku also clarified that the Ghana Medical Trust Fund was intended to support specialised tertiary healthcare and not duplicate the work of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

“We needed to clearly establish where NHIA ends and where the Ghana Medical Trust Fund begins,” she said.

Pilot phase

Mrs Darko-Opoku disclosed that a pilot exercise conducted in February under the “Month of Love” initiative supported 50 patients at a cost of more than GH¢4.8 million.

The beneficiaries received support for heart surgery, brain surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and orthopaedic procedures across 11 hospitals.

She said the nationwide rollout of the patient support programme would begin in June 2026 with cancer-related conditions.

Funding

The Fund is financed through 20 per cent of the National Health Insurance Levy, government budgetary allocations and voluntary contributions from individuals, companies and philanthropic organisations.

Between January and May this year, the Fund received about GH¢7 million in donations from corporate bodies and individuals.

Mrs Darko-Opoku said some workers had also voluntarily donated part of their salaries to support the scheme.