President John Mahama has launched the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, commonly referred to MahamaCares.
The event, which took place at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) in Accra on Tuesday, April 29, saw the President donate six months of his salary to the Trust Fund.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mahama appealed to the private sector to commit their corporate social responsibility to the Mahama Cares.
According to him, such contributions would directly benefit the very people on whom these institutions depend for their daily operations.
“I want to encourage corporate Ghana, businesses, the mines, the banks, and all the other companies, that this Ghana Medical Trust Fund, is coming to your clients who save their monies in your banks or do business with you. Some of them are even your own staff.
“So, as part of your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), if you give anything, consider that you are giving to your own staff or customers. So, I would like to encourage all corporations in Ghana, both private and public, to at the end of the year, donate some portion of their annual CSR to Ghana Medical Fund because it is going to do a lot of good to the country,” he stated.
The Ghana Medical Trust Fund was one of the campaign promises of the National Democratic Congress during the 2024 elections.
It is intended to ease the cost of accessing specialist care for Ghanaians living with NCDs such as diabetes, cancer, kidney failure, stroke, and complications from hypertension.
The fund is expected to work in conjunction with Ghana’s primary health care efforts by supporting early screening and targeted treatment, particularly for people in underserved communities