Annual Programme of Work 2005 - Ministry of Health

• Increasing overall financial resources to the sector and ensure pro-poor and equitable
allocation
• Enhancing performance measurement, monitoring and use of information to improve
productivity in the sector.
• Full implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme
• Implementing the Ghana Ambulance Service
These priorities will be implemented in a changing and challenging health context. The
national health insurance scheme will change the financing and provision of health
services and lead to changes in patient expectations. The health system will need to be
reconfigured to respond to these changes.
Secondly, efforts to increase access to health services through the expansion of health
infrastructure are likely to be undermined by the ongoing brain drain of health
professionals unless we implement credible programmes for retaining and attracting
human resources in the sector.
Thirdly, even in the current environment in which the health sector is under-funded and
under-resourced, there are still pockets of low productivity and wastage. Decentralization
of health systems seems not to have been translated into improved productivity. Indeed,
marked variations in regional performance have been recorded. Greater promotion of
accountability and ensuring value for money investments will therefore be required.
The 2005 programme of work represents the collective response of the MOH, Agencies
and Partners to these challenges and priorities. It is not an action plan. Instead, it is a reiteration
of the goals, objectives, targets and priorities defined in the 5YPOW. The
priorities for 2005 are nevertheless based on the experiences in the last three years.
The POW is a tool for stewardship of MOH, Agencies, and Partners activities. It is a
framework to guide Governments and Partners investments in the health sector and lays
the basis for MOH and Partners to account for results and resources. It is also intended to
guide the preparation of annual Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) plans by
all Agencies and Budget and Management Centres (BMCs) in the health sector. The
POW does not try to subvert local planning and replace it with centralized planning and
control that is insensitive to the need of local communities, household and individuals.
As in the earlier documents, this programme of work is structured to reflect the health
sector priorities and functions. It places the priority health interventions and services at
the centre and defines more explicitly the capital and human resource investments
required to achieve the sector-wide objectives. The programme of work is results driven;
and states outputs and outcomes to be achieved.
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