The Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Mohammed Abdul-Salam, has reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to partnering with the Ghana Medical Trust Fund to identify sustainable ways of supporting regional and teaching hospitals with essential medical equipment and resources across the country.
He made this assurance during a courtesy visit on Wednesday, 22nd October, by the Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Obuobia Darko-Opoku, and her team to the NLA leadership, which included the Deputy Director-General, Eric Yeboah Wadie. The meeting focused on exploring collaborative opportunities aimed at enhancing healthcare delivery nationwide.
Highlighting the urgent need to upgrade health facilities, Ms. Darko-Opoku expressed concern that many hospitals operate under challenging conditions, lacking critical diagnostic and treatment equipment such as MRI and CT scan machines, dialysis units, and breast screening facilities.
She explained that the Ghana Medical Trust Fund—established under Act 114—has commenced a comprehensive needs assessment of all six teaching hospitals and ten regional hospitals in Ghana. Preliminary findings, she said, reveal significant equipment and infrastructure deficits that demand immediate intervention.
“Our health facilities are on their knees, and we can no longer pretend about it. When you visit some of these hospitals, you leave wondering how our healthcare system is surviving. The government alone cannot carry this burden. We are calling on corporate institutions to partner with us in retooling our hospitals so that, together, we can make a lasting difference,” she emphasized.
Ms. Darko-Opoku further urged the NLA to consider supporting specific hospital projects through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, stressing that such partnerships would have a transformative and enduring impact on healthcare in Ghana.
In response, Mr. Abdul-Salam commended the Ghana Medical Trust Fund for its dedication to improving healthcare delivery and assured them of the NLA’s readiness to collaborate. He noted that the Authority’s leadership is open to exploring structured mechanisms for regular contributions to the Fund as part of its CSR framework.
“I strongly believe that if we treat healthcare funding as a shared responsibility, we can achieve great results together. Supporting the Ghana Medical Trust Fund aligns perfectly with our CSR goals. We could even consider adopting one project at a time and seeing it through to completion,” Mr. Abdul-Salam remarked.
He added that partnerships of this nature reinforce the broader national agenda of channeling lottery proceeds toward good causes that enhance the well-being of Ghanaians.
The Deputy Director-General of the NLA, Mr. Wadie, also expressed enthusiasm about the potential collaboration, reiterating the Authority’s commitment to supporting initiatives that bring tangible benefits to communities.
Both the NLA and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund share a common vision of contributing to national development and improving the lives of Ghanaians. Through this partnership, they aim to ensure that critical health facilities receive the necessary support to deliver quality healthcare across the country.
