President John Dramani Mahama has urged African countries to strengthen their health regulatory systems and invest in modern technology to ensure patients receive safe, ethical and quality healthcare.
Speaking in Accra on Monday at the opening of the 28th Annual Conference of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA), President Mahama said Africa must take greater responsibility for protecting and developing its healthcare systems rather than relying heavily on external support.
The five-day conference, held on the theme “Responsive Regulation for Safer Communities Towards Universal Health Coverage,” is focused on strengthening health regulation as a key component of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) across the continent.
President Mahama identified the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital healthcare as an urgent priority, particularly as online medical consultations and technology-driven healthcare services become increasingly common.
He said regulators must develop clear standards for the use of AI and other emerging technologies while ensuring that innovation does not compromise patient safety or professional accountability.
The President outlined seven areas he believes African health regulators must prioritise.
These include greater harmonisation of regulatory systems across countries, stronger cooperation in verifying and recognising professional qualifications, investment in regulatory science, secure health data-sharing systems and the protection of the quality of medical education.
He also called for practical regulatory frameworks for humanitarian and fragile settings, where health systems often face emergencies and disruptions.
On digital health and AI, President Mahama urged regulators to act with urgency while ensuring that access to emerging technologies remains equitable.
He further stressed that patients and the public must remain at the centre of regulatory decisions.
“The true measure of a regulator is not how many licences it issues, but how effectively it protects people and patients,” he said.
According to him, universal health coverage can only be achieved when citizens have confidence that healthcare professionals, whether operating in hospitals, clinics or digital platforms, are competent, ethical and accountable.
“Universal health coverage cannot exist without universal health confidence,” President Mahama added.
He challenged participants to ensure that the conference produces practical outcomes rather than ending with discussions alone.
He called for stronger continental collaboration, implementable policy recommendations, capacity-building programmes and improved information-sharing mechanisms among African health regulatory institutions.
President Mahama also called for a renewed commitment to patient safety across Africa, stressing that quality healthcare should not depend on national borders.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said the government was expanding Ghana’s healthcare system across the full continuum of care.
He said this includes the Free Primary Healthcare programme, which focuses on disease prevention and essential services, as well as the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, which supports specialised and high-cost treatment for chronic conditions.
Former World Health Organisation Deputy Director-General, Dr Anarfi-Asamoah Baah, also called on African governments to increase domestic financing for healthcare to reduce dependence on external support.
President of AMCOA and Chairman of the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, Prof Joel Okullo, said effective health regulation must be treated as a central pillar in Africa’s quest to achieve universal health coverage.
