Health Ministry launches National Surgical, Obstetric and Anesthesia Plan

The Ministry of Health has launched the National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plan (NSOAP), to ensure that all Ghanaians have equitable access to vital anesthetic, surgical, obstetric and trauma care.

The initiative, which was launched on Tuesday in Accra, also seeks to promote population health, which is critical to the advancement of national development.

Speaking at the launch, the Deputy Minister for Health, Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah, said surgical, obstetric, trauma, and anesthesia (SOTA) services are essential parts of the country's healthcare systems, hence, global appeals have been made for countries to create comprehensive plans to address these issues.

He noted that the NSOAP outlines goals, strategic objectives, strategic interventions, activities and indicators relating to the six domains of Infrastructure, Workforce, Service Delivery, Financing, Information Management as well as Governance and Leadership.

He said, “The plan serves as the blueprint for SOTA services in the country for the next five years (2025 to 2029) noting that it would require multi-stakeholder collaboration, including Public Private Partnership and strong coordination at all levels for an effective implementation of the policy.’

‘The SOTA service is designed to be in alignment with existing global, continental and national initiatives and policies and is to be implemented not as a standalone plan but integrated into national policies,” he added.

The Chief Director for the Ministry of Health, Hafiz Adam, referenced the 2015 World Health Assembly Resolution 68.15, which recognises the strengthening of emergency and essential surgical care and anesthesia as vital for achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

He disclosed that the Ministry established a technical working group in 2020 to develop the National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plan (NSOAP) for Ghana.

He commended the commitment of the Health Minister and the technical working group including Operation Smile, one of the key contributors, for making the document a reality.