President Akufo-Addo has appointed the Director of Health Promotion at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Dacosta Aboagye, as the new Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

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The appointment, according to the Secretary to the President in a letter, is in accordance with Section 14 (1) of the National Health Insurance Act, 2012 (Act 852).

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Dr Aboagye takes over from Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, Minister of Health-designate per the letter and the appointment is “pending receipt of the constitutionally required advice of the governing board of the Authority given in consul­tation with the Public Services Commission.”

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Dr. Dacosta Aboagye, a 45-year-old national health insurance expert, holds a higher national certificate in Pharmacy Technology from the Kumasi Technical University, obtained in 2002.

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Currently serving as the Director of the Health Promotion Division within the Ghana Health Service, he brings a wealth of experience in national health insurance finance, public health, and health promotion.

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Dr. Aboagye led Ghana's risk communication efforts and was part of the presidential task force for managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana from 2020 to 2023.

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Before his current role, he served as the cohort leader for the Public Health and Health Promotion program at the University of West London, UK, and as an external examiner on National Health Insurance Financing, Public Health, and Health Promotion at the University of Salford and London Metropolitan University.

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Within the ECOWAS community, Dr. Aboagye chairs the Public Health Risk Communication and Community Engagement for Disease Control within the West Africa Health Organization. This role involves facilitating experience sharing, advocacy, learning, and promoting better health through building stronger health systems across the 15 ECOWAS member states to achieve universal health coverage and sustainable development goals.

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He also serves as the Chairman of the Africa CDC Public Health Risk Communication and Community Engagements Community of Practice for the 55 member states, aiming to promote best practices, health system strengthening, including national health insurance finance, continuous learning, and knowledge exchange in Africa.

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Dr. Aboagye has about 11 impactful research papers in health insurance, public health, and health promotion and has extensively presented his research work locally and internationally.

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He has received numerous prestigious awards and citations, including the MTN Young Professionals Role Model in Health (Gold Category, 2020), the Golden Citizen Award (2021), and the overall National Best Health Leader of the Year 2023. Dr. Aboagye was also honored with the Order of the Volta-Companion Category, the highest award of the Republic of Ghana, for his contributions and sacrifices during Ghana's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023.

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