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Ghana Citizenship > News > Healthcare > Ghana Medical Trust Fund Eyes 3 More Cancer Treatment Centres Under Long-Term Health Strategy
A doctor in a white coat consults a patient in a Ghanaian hospital waiting area, with a nurse and a second patient visible in the background.
Ghana Citizenship Team
May 12, 2026
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Ghana Medical Trust Fund Eyes 3 More Cancer Treatment Centres Under Long-Term Health Strategy

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Table of Contents

  1. The Plan: Three New Cancer Centres
  2. Why This Matters Now (The Current Gap)
  3. Building the Workforce: GHS 36.2 Million in Training
  4. What This Means for You
  5. Sources

The Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF) has announced plans to establish at least three comprehensive cancer centres across the country, part of a long-term strategy to strengthen oncology care and expand access to specialized treatment.

If that sounds like government planning, here is what it actually means: Ghana is moving from a system where cancer patients must travel to just two cities for radiotherapy to one where life-saving treatment is available regionally. The first pilot centre will open at Ridge Hospital in Accra, with additional centres planned across the country over time.

That shift matters because every week, patients from the Volta Region, the Northern Region, and everywhere in between make long journeys to Accra or Kumasi. Some wait two to three months just to begin treatment. For cancer, that delay can change everything.


The Plan: Three New Cancer Centres

GMTF Administrator Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku announced the initiative during the Government Accountability Series on Monday, May 11, 2026. The new facilities will be designed as comprehensive oncology centres capable of providing integrated diagnostics, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and advanced treatment options, including Gamma Knife systems and other state-of-the-art technologies.

Here’s why that matters. Ghana currently has only two radiotherapy machines in the public sector and one in the private sector, all located in Accra and Kumasi. All three machines are concentrated in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions, forcing patients from the north, the Volta Region, and the Western Region to travel hundreds of kilometers for a single treatment session. According to global standards, a country of Ghana’s size (approximately 35 million people) should have about 35 radiotherapy centres. The gap is enormous.

The fund’s long-term vision is ambitious: make cancer care accessible regionally so patients no longer need to travel across the country or face months-long waits for treatment. The pilot at Ridge Hospital will test the model before expansion to other regions.

 

Why This Matters Now (The Current Gap)

To understand what’s at stake, look at the numbers. According to the Global Cancer Observatory (Globocan) 2022, Ghana recorded 27,385 new cancer cases across more than 32 cancer types, with 17,944 deaths. For breast cancer, the most diagnosed cancer, this meant approximately 4,026 new cases and 2,369 deaths in a single year, a mortality-to-incidence ratio that underscores how often the disease is caught late.

The gap in outcomes is stark. A nationwide needs assessment conducted by the Trust Fund across 21 facilities found that the entire northern sector of Ghana had only two practicing cardiologists serving millions of people, just one example of how thinly spread specialist care is across the country. The same pattern holds for oncology: specialist expertise is concentrated almost entirely in Accra and Kumasi.

The situation for childhood cancers is particularly critical. While cures are possible, and initiatives like the GMTF now cover conditions such as leukemia and lymphoma, late diagnosis remains a major challenge across the country, drastically reducing survival chances and making the new fund’s support all the more critical.

Dr Beatrice Wiafe-Addai, President of Breast Care International, put it bluntly during World Cancer Day celebrations in Kumasi earlier this year: Ghana does not have a single standalone comprehensive cancer centre of excellence. She noted that the country falls far short of the international standard of one radiotherapy centre per million people.

The good news is that momentum is building. Construction on the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Excellence in the Ashanti Region began in October 2024, with initial funding from former US President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot 2.0 initiative. That facility will serve Ghana and the wider West African sub-region.

That said, one new centre, however advanced, is not enough. The Trust Fund’s plan for three additional regional cancer centres represents a significant step toward closing the gap, if it can be fully funded and implemented.

 

Building the Workforce: GHS 36.2 Million in Training

Infrastructure alone won’t solve the problem. You can have all the machines in the world, but without trained specialists to operate them, they are just expensive paperweights.

The Fund has committed GHS 36,234,475 to train 100 pharmacists and 100 nurse specialists across Ghana. The training focuses on oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, neurology, and related specialist fields, delivered through strategic partnerships with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Ghana College of Pharmacists, and the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives.

Here’s what makes this different: trainees are required to return to their home regions after completing their programmes. This is a direct response to one of Ghana’s most persistent healthcare problems: specialist expertise concentrated almost entirely in Accra and Kumasi. If you need a cardiologist and live in Tamale, your options are severely limited. The same goes for oncology care. By tying trained specialists to their home regions, the Fund is trying to ensure that the new cancer centres won’t just be buildings; they will have the staff to actually treat patients.

Darko-Opoku also revealed that the Fund’s nationwide patient support programme will officially roll out in June 2026. Over GHS 4.8 million has already been spent treating 50 pilot patients across 11 hospitals. The initial benefit package focuses on breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and childhood cancers including leukemia, lymphoma, soft tissue sarcomas, retinoblastomas, and nephroblastomas. Patients will access support through 29 enlisted hospitals across the country, with applications initiated digitally by specialist clinicians.

 

What This Means for You

If you are a Ghanaian citizen or a resident planning to stay long-term, this matters directly. The Fund targets what the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cannot fully cover: specialist treatment for cancers, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, and other non-communicable chronic diseases. To be eligible for support, you must be a Ghanaian citizen, hold an active NHIS card, and have a condition covered by the Fund.

On the flip side, the Fund is still in pilot phase, and not everything is fully operational yet. The government is using the pilot to assess long-term financial sustainability, which means coverage could expand or contract based on the data. Under the Ghana Medical Trust Fund Act, 2025 (Act 1144), the Fund receives 20 percent of the total funds allocated to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), with additional support from donor groups, corporate institutions, and private individuals.

What this means for now: if you need cancer treatment, check whether your facility is one of the 29 hospitals selected for the initial rollout. The list includes all teaching hospitals and selected regional hospitals. Your specialist clinician will need to initiate your application digitally; you cannot walk in and apply directly.

For context on Ghana’s broader healthcare landscape, the 2026 Budget allocates GHS 600 million for the construction of three new regional hospitals in the Savannah, Oti, and Western North regions. The Fund is the “apex” of a three-tier health financing system: free primary healthcare at the base, NHIS in the middle, and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund at the top for catastrophic illness coverage.

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Sources