Ghana, Japan Sign MOU On African Health and Wellbeing Initiative

By Raissa Sambou

The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the government of Japan yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the African Health and Wellbeing Initiative.

The agreement seeks to promote quality healthcare in the country, as Ghana seeks to achieve Universal Health Coverage.

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu signed for Ghana and the Ambassador of Japan to Ghana, Mr Tsutomu Himeno, appended his signature for his country.

Mr Agyeman-Manu described the initiative as worthy of the highest recognition because it focused on the total wellbeing of Ghanaians.

"It is an example of the kind of partnerships we seek with our development, bilateral and private sector partners towards ensuring a healthy and productive population for national development," he said.

He described the signing of the MoU as timely, saying it was very important as Ghana positioned itself for the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

The minister expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for its contribution towards shaping Ghana's health sector, adding that the MoH would continue to support every initiative that would ensure no one was denied proper healthcare in the country.

On his part, Mr Himeno urged the MoH to focus more on the prevention of ailments rather than curative because it saves more money and resources.

"The prevention aspect of medical and health policies is very important so direct more attention to prevention because aside saving more lives, it also saves money," he advised.

He assured of the Japanese government's continuous support towards ensuring Ghana achieved its Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

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