Health Policy and the Fight Against COVID-19: A Narrative Review of Ghana’s Response

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect healthcare systems worldwide. Developed and underdeveloped countries continue to strive toward sustainable health policies that will help contain the spread and, at the same time, manage the patients. Global policy initiatives since the confirmation of the outbreak are guided by the recommendations from the World Health Organization. Countries, states, and territories develop domestic policies based on their capacities and resources. This study aims to provide insight into Ghana’s health policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This study is a narrative review of literature in which data were extracted from electronic databases such as Embase, PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science that published research articles on the initial policy response to COVID-19 in Ghana. A concurrent relative search was also conducted on the websites of the Ghana Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service to aggregate and synthesize existing policies enacted in response to the coronavirus pandemic within the first year of the outbreak. Results: Ghana’s health policy response to COVID-19 was proactive and reactive. Policy changes occurred when cases started emerging in Ghana. The focus of health policy was mainly to preserve lives. Policy implementation was a collaborative effort between public and private organizations. Conclusion: The government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, has remained at the forefront of providing policy directions to the Ghanaian people in the fight against COVID-19.

Keywords

• covid-19
• healthcare
• health policy
• lockdown
• ghana