The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has suffered a nationwide shutdown of its electronic health information systems after its cloud hosting provider switched off all 10 servers supporting the platforms over an outstanding payment of US$64,510.95.
The shutdown has disrupted access to key digital services, including the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS2).
According to reports, the disruption, which began on October 29, 2026, has affected the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS2), the Service’s main national health information reporting platform, alongside several other digital systems used in healthcare delivery and administration.
An internal memo dated November 2 and addressed to regional and divisional directors, the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, disclosed that the hosting provider had switched off all 10 servers supporting the affected platforms.
Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, however, assured health officials that the incident had not compromised the security of the systems or resulted in any loss of information.
He stated, “There has been no security breach, and no data has been lost. Nightly encrypted backups of every system are held outside the suspended account and are current to 29th October 2026”.
Among the major platforms affected is DHIMS2, which health facilities and administrators rely on for entering, validating, analysing and extracting national health data.
Also, the Planning and Budget Management Information System (PBMIS), which provides access to institutional plans and budgets, has also become inaccessible.
Reports also disclosed that other affected platforms include eTracker, the Family Planning and Health Care (FPHC) system, Operational Training and Supervision Support (OTSS) assessments and the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) tracker. Although their web-based platforms are unavailable, their Android data-capture applications can still operate offline.
According to the Information gathered, the shutdown has similarly disrupted web access and laboratory integration for the HIV and tuberculosis trackers, as well as the ISRS sample tracker.
However, their Android applications remain operational in offline mode.
Additional systems affected include the National Malaria Data Repository (NMDR), the Events system for recording inpatient morbidity and mortality, SMS alerts, the transport system and the Community Health Information Management (CHIM) portal.
Meanwhile, the disruption has also affected the data-exchange gateway used to transmit birth notifications to the National Identification Authority and the Births and Deaths Registry.
Dr Akoriyea, to minimise the impact on health reporting and prevent gaps in the collection of essential information, has since directed health facilities and district health administrations to revert to paper-based reporting procedures until the digital platforms are restored.
In addition, facilities have been instructed to maintain their registers and complete monthly summary forms manually to ensure that information for October and November 2026 is properly documented and can be uploaded into DHIMS2 once access becomes available.
Meanwhile, on steps being considered to restore the affected systems, the Director-General outlined two possible approaches.
He disclosed that the first involves reactivating the existing Akamai account by clearing the outstanding payment, explaining that this option would allow the Service to recover access to all its systems in their previous state without having to rebuild them, making it the fastest route to restoring operations.
The other option would require the GHS to procure new servers and reconstruct the affected platforms using available backups. However, this approach could take as long as six weeks after the necessary server capacity has been acquired, potentially prolonging the disruption.
He disclosed that the Service was working to finalise arrangements with Akamai and obtain approval for US$64,510.95 to settle the outstanding amount and restore access to the systems.
Dr Akoriyea consequently appealed to the sector minister to intervene and facilitate the approval process to ensure that the affected services are restored as quickly as possible.
He further indicated that the GHS intends to consider moving its digital infrastructure to a Ghana-based hosting provider after services have been restored.
Dr Akoriyea stated, “Once services are restored, the Service will plan any move to a Ghana-based provider as a controlled project. That project will include a parallel run and a funded backup arrangement”.
@ghnow_ Four people have been captured repackaging ketchup from larger containers into smaller bottles at Tudu in Accra. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – C2 TV
@ghnow_ Business mogul Sir Samuel Esson Jonah departs The TrueLife Experience, held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – DiamonnatrØ👣🦅
