Akufo-Addo appoints Dr Da Costa Aboagye as Director of Health Promotion

Dr Da Costa Aboagye

The President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, has appointed Dr Da Costa Aboagye, as the National Director of the newly created Health Promotion Division.

The Division under the Ghana Health Service and Ministry of Health is located at Korle-Bu with its edifice refurbished by UNICEF, WHO and some development partners.

Dr DaCosta will provide leadership to sensitise the public on the maintenance of good health, prevention of deadly diseases, promotion of innovations with digital platforms for healthy lifestyles and promote investments locally and internationally in the Health Sector

Commenting on his appointment, the Director of Health Promotion, Dr Da Costa Aboagye said “it is a great honour and privilege to be given this opportunity to lead health promotion in the country and to contribute to delivering the President’s vision of a ‘Ghana beyond aid in the health sector and also to help Ghana achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through Good health and wellbeing”

Until his appointment, Dr Da Costa Aboagye was the Cohort Leader and Health Promotion Lecturer at the University of West London. He has been an international consultant in the field of health promotion and Healthcare financing in many African countries including Ghana. He is an accomplished Fellow of the Higher Education Academy of England and Wales and leader, with significant international experience in Health Promotion and Public Health.

He is the External Examiner for London Metropolitan University for Masters in Public Health Management, Health Promotion and Public Health

Dr Da Costa is a regular speaker at international conferences and more recently, he was invited by the World Health Organisation and Chinese Government to be a speaker and delegate in the Shanghai Declaration on promoting health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Shanghai, China. He was part of the review team for the 2018 International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit organized to better understand what works in shifting social norms, changing behaviours and in amplifying the voice of those who have most at stake in the success of development efforts.

In April 2017, Dr Da Costa presented on “Exploring Community Perspectives on National Health Insurance Policy in Ghana” at the 15th World Congress on Public Health, Melbourne Australia. With a strong background in qualitative and quantitative research, health impact assessments, evaluations and systematic reviews, he is a reviewer for a couple of Journals including Global Health Promotion. He has several high profile academic and scholarly publications.

He holds a PhD in Health Promotion -Public Health from Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom, a Masters in Health Promotion and Environmental Health from Leeds Beckett, United Kingdom, a BSc Degree in Chemistry from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana and a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching from West London University, United Kingdom. He is married with 2 children.

Three Deputy Directors are expected to be appointed for the new division by law to help the new Director execute his functions including, Deputy Director for Health Communication and Education, Deputy Director for Advocacy and Social Mobilisation, and Deputy Director for Research and Health Policy Departments.