Health in Ghana


Physicians at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital
Health indicators
Life expectancy 66
Infant mortality 39
Fertility 2.12
Sanitation 14% (2010)
Smoker 1%
Obesity female 7%
Obesity male 2%
Malnutrition 1%
HIV 0.7%

In precolonial Ghana, infectious diseases were the main cause of morbidity and mortality.[1] The modern history of health in Ghana was heavily influenced by international actors such as Christian missionaries, European colonists, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.[2] In addition, the democratic shift in Ghana spurred healthcare reforms in an attempt to address the presence of infectious and noncommunicable diseases eventually resulting in the formation of the National Health insurance Scheme in place today.[1][3]

The First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Pat Nixon visits a child in a hospital in Ghana, 1972.

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative[4] finds that Ghana is fulfilling 67.1% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.[5] When looking at the right to health with respect to children, Ghana achieves 89.3% of what is expected based on its current income.[6] In regards to the right to health amongst the adult population, the country achieves only 78.0% of what is expected based on the nation's level of income. [7] Ghana falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the nation is fulfilling only 34.1% of what the nation is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.[8]

  1. ^ a b Agyei-Mensah, Samuel; Aikins, Ama de-Graft (2010-09-01). "Epidemiological Transition and the Double Burden of Disease in Accra, Ghana". Journal of Urban Health. 87 (5): 879–897. doi:10.1007/s11524-010-9492-y. ISSN 1099-3460. PMC 2937133. PMID 20803094.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Archived from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  5. ^ "Ghana - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  6. ^ "Ghana - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  7. ^ "Ghana - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  8. ^ "Ghana - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-13.