Ghana

Akwaaba! Amaraba!

Transforming health care in Ghana through innovation, evidence, and equitable access since 1978.

Selected Achievements

  • Jhpiego has improved care for over 15,400 mothers and newborns, reducing maternal mortality by 45.5%, newborn mortality by 67.3% and stillbirths by 39% in project sites.

  • Working to support Ghana’s health workforce, Jhpiego supported the training of more than 5,000 health workers in maternal, newborn, and child health, family planning, and nutrition, including 1,800 staff in neonatal intensive care units, labor wards, and emergency care.

  • Jhpiego has delivered lifesaving maternal and newborn health supplies to 82 facilities, expanding care across four northern regions in Ghana.

  • Jhpiego supported the revision of national reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health policies and newborn oxygen guidelines and disseminated Ghana’s Medical Oxygen Policy. Oxygen installations were mapped, reducing average travel distance by more than half, and national guidelines were co-developed to strengthen clinical education and mentorship.

  • Jhpiego installed liquid oxygen systems in 10 secondary hospitals, piped oxygen to critical care wards, Oxygen installations were mapped, reducing average travel distance by more than half. Jhpiego also played a key role in efforts to establish a National Oxygen Office to coordinate oxygen services across the country.

  • More than 10,000 women have been screened for breast and cervical cancer and community outreach increased awareness and demand for cancer screening services among 30,000 people.

  • Jhpiego helped strengthen cancer screening capacity in 20 facilities, deploying 20 client navigators to support patient follow-up.

Current Projects

Expanding Access to Early Detection and Treatment for Breast Cancer

The Breast Cancer End-to-End Care from Assessment to Treatment (BEAT Breast Cancer) Project aims to address barriers to timely breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and care.

  • With support from the Pfizer Foundation, Jhpiego is partnering with Ghana’s Ministry of Health to improve early detection and timely treatment of breast cancer. This three-year initiative trains primary health care providers to conduct clinical breast exams, integrates breast health awareness into behavior change platforms, and decentralizes diagnostic services to secondary-level facilities.

  • The project is increasing access to multimodality treatment, with a goal of screening 100,000 women and establishing 12 diagnostic centers across the Ashanti, Greater Accra, and Northern regions.

Strengthening Care for Mothers and Newborns

The Strengthening Maternal and Newborn Care in Secondary Hospitals (MaNuCARE) is enhancing the quality and capacity of six secondary-level hospitals in Ghana’s Eastern Region.

  • With funding from Latter-day Saint Charities, the MaNuCARE project is working with secondary-level hospitals to help them better manage complications at birth and provide specialized care for small and vulnerable newborns.

  • The project implements newborn care packages to improve survival and respiratory support, strengthens maternity services for better risk identification and management, and digitizes maternal and newborn health data.

  • Ongoing training, mentorship, and provision of essential equipment are building resilient, high-performing facilities that deliver high-quality care for mothers and newborns.

Improving Health Through Integrated Approaches

Reaching Impact Saturation and Epidemic Control (RISE)

  • Reaching Impact Saturation and Epidemic Control (RISE) is a multi-country project funded by the U.S. Government to save lives and improve health through integrated, evidence-based approaches to address urgent gaps in lifesaving services. RISE works across all levels of the health system to strengthen the HIV/TB epidemic response, to limit the spread of deadly disease outbreaks through Global Health Security programming, and to reduce preventable morbidity and mortality through integrated maternal, newborn, and child health, nutrition, tuberculosis, and malaria services. RISE supports country governments to strengthen essential data systems, supply chain and commodity management, human resources for health, domestic resource mobilization, and other cross-cutting health system functions to accelerate transition to country ownership. Since 2019, RISE has supported programs in more than 25 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The program runs through December 2027. Learn more here.

Increasing Contraceptive Options

The Ghana Hormonal IUD Implementation Scale (G-HIS) Project supports the government in the development and implementation of a national plan to scale up access to hormonal IUDs.

  • With funding from the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Jhpiego engages stakeholders and family planning leaders to design a comprehensive scale-up strategy, launch implementation activities, and position Ghana to collaborate with global partners.

  • By adopting best practices in contraceptive service delivery, the initiative is expanding women’s choices and strengthening family planning services nationwide.

Country Director

Dr. Pearl Nanka-Bruce

Country Director

Video Highlights

Reducing Cervical Cancer Deaths in Ghana

"At Jhpiego Ghana, we are transforming health systems to work better for women, children, and families. From maternal and newborn care to infectious disease response, women's cancers and health workforce development, our work is rooted in equity, innovation, and partnership. Every life saved is a reminder of why we do what we do."
— Dr. Pearl Nanka-Bruce, Jhpiego Ghana Country Director