On Friday, Ghana, under the direction of the Ministry of Health, observed 2023 World Health Day and launched the year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of WHO.
Performing the launch in Accra, the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu underscored the critical role WHO has played in supporting Ghana’s health sector agenda over the decades and expressed Ghana’s continuous support for the organisation in its efforts to promote health for all.
“Over the years, WHO has set the public health agenda, developed and promoted norms and standards and spearheaded efforts to strengthen health systems, eliminate, eradicate and control diseases,” Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu noted.
“The Government of Ghana anticipates an even more fruitful collaboration with WHO to fully operationalize the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) roadmap”.
The WHO Representative to Ghana, Dr Francis Kasolo praised the collaboration between Ghana and WHO which is helping to strengthen the health sector and promote the attainment of UHC and the Sustainable Development Goal 3.
“WHO and Ghana has stood shoulder to shoulder over the decades to strengthen health security, build resilient health systems and effectively deal with communicable and noncommunicable diseases”, Dr Kasolo said.
“Therefore, this 75th anniversary is a moment to reflect the public health successes of the past and come together with science, solutions, and solidarity to address future challenges”.
Delivering a public lecture on the theme; “WHO yesterday, today and the future”, the Foundation Vice-Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Professor Fred Binka called for stronger support from member states and partners to strengthen WHO’s leadership in Global Public Health.
“Now more than ever, the world needs WHO given the emerging global public health challenges,” Professor Fred Binka emphasised. “Member states and partners must increase support to ensure an independent and well-functioning WHO so that it can continue to deliver on its mandate”.
The launch was attended by Diplomats, heads of Government Agencies, Development Partners, heads of United Nations Agencies in Ghana, former and current staff of WHO and other stakeholders.
The yearlong celebration of the anniversary in Ghana will see the rollout of campaigns engaging Government, partners, and the public to share their stories of what health means to them. Planning around the global Health Days, specific monthly themes will be identified to jointly celebrate public health achievements and highlight the pertinent challenges impeding the acceleration of universal health coverage (UHC) and health-related SDGs.