Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku, the Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, also known as MahamaCares, has clarified the fund’s role in health care delivery.
According to Adjoa Obuobia, the MahamaCares will not replace the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) but will only complement it.
She highlighted that MahamaCares is structured to work alongside the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, May 14, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku stated, “Let me state clearly that the Ghana Medical Trust Fund complements the National Health Insurance; we simply do not duplicate them”.
“The work of the National Health Insurance is a fundamental health financing insurance scheme, and what the Ghana Medical Trust Fund does is make interventions. So they are two different things. So the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, on the other hand, has much broader and more specialised work to do,” she explained.
Also, Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku has stated that the MahhamaCares will not support patients seeking medical treatment outside Ghana.
She revealed that the Mahama Cares fund has recently come under increasing pressure, with persons appealing for funding to seek treatment abroad.
Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku disclosed that the governing law that established the Fund restricts its mandate to supporting free treatment for non-communicable diseases in Ghana.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, May 11, she said, “There is something that we keep getting. Many people want funding to go abroad. Let me announce here, and now, we do not support any funding out of the borders of this country.
“That money that we spend for one patient to go to India for treatment, we can use that for about 20 patients in the country. Anything beyond the borders as stipulated in the Act is beyond us,” she said.
Meanwhile, for one to benefit from support under the Trust Fund, an applicant must meet three basic eligibility requirements.
The applicant must be a Ghanaian citizen, an active NHIS card bearer, and must have a medical condition that falls within the approved conditions supported under the Fund.
In 2025, John Dramani Mahama officially launched the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, also known as The MahamaCares.
The landmark initiative aimed at providing financial assistance to individuals living with chronic diseases across the country.
The Fund seeks to cover the cost of care and medication for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) not currently included under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).