Claims that the National Health Insurance Authority’s ongoing reforms are brand new initiatives conceived by the current administration do not align with the established public record. While the Authority is rightfully preparing its managers for a nationwide rollout, it is important to recognise that the pillars of these reforms, the National Telehealth Program, the E-Pharmacy Policy, the Biometric Membership Authentication System (BMAS), and the Cashless Payment Solution, did not originate today. These are long-running national projects that were initiated, launched, or significantly advanced under the previous NPP government, driven in large part by the digital health agenda championed by the former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
Let it be emphasized that although the NHIA Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations, Dr Senanu Kwesi Djokoto, has assured managers of a smooth nationwide rollout of these flagship reforms, it is crucial to place the initiatives in their proper historical context. The reforms (the National Telehealth Program, E-Pharmacy Policy, Biometric Membership Authentication System (BMAS), and a Cashless Payment Solution) being highlighted are not fresh concepts conceived by the present administration they are continuing projects whose foundations were laid years ago by the digital Dr. Bawumia.
1. National Telehealth Project
Any attempt to rebrand the National Telehealth Program as a fresh initiative of the current NDC administration collapses under the weight of verifiable public records. The project is one of the most visible pillars of the NPP government’s health digitalization agenda, championed and launched by former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on 13 November 2024. The facts are clear, documented, and uncontested.
The NHIA’s own official communication in 2024 explicitly described the telehealth service as a national digital health project, rolled out under the leadership of Dr Bawumia and the then NHIA Chief Executive, Dr Da-Costa Aboagye. It was introduced as a direct extension of the government’s ongoing push to modernize healthcare following the medical drone delivery system, the E-Pharmacy platform, and the broader suite of digital health reforms.
During the launch at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region, Dr Bawumia stated unambiguously that Telehealth was conceived to “bring medical consultations into the homes and hands of our people,” positioning it as part of the NPP government’s commitment to digital transformation. His own words laid out the vision: connecting every government health facility nationwide, ensuring equitable access regardless of location, and building a digitally driven, inclusive healthcare system.
He further revealed the next phase: the establishment of virtual care booths and community-level diagnostic points across the country, an NHIA-Ghana Health Service-Pharmacy Council collaboration that was already in motion before the change of administration.
At the same event, Dr Da-Costa Aboagye, then NHIA CEO, celebrated the Telehealth rollout as a “significant milestone in the NHIS’ forward march”, detailing its capacity to bridge access gaps through text, USSD, calls, mobile apps, and web platforms. The full functionality, real-time audio/video consultations, OPD services, and remote medical support was introduced under his leadership, not after.
Every official fact points to one conclusion thus the National Telehealth Program is not a new idea. It is an NPP-era project, launched, branded, and operationalized under Dr Bawumia’s digital health reforms. What is happening today is simply the continuation, and in many cases, repackaging, of work that was already completed or significantly advanced before January 2025.
No amount of political relabelling can erase the documented timeline. The public record is clear, the names are known, and the launch is on video. Telehealth is an NPP legacy project—full stop.
[Source: https://www.nhis.gov.gh/News/dr.-bawumia-launches-nhia’s-telehealth-project-5627]
2. E-Pharmacy Policy
The Ghana National Electronic Pharmacy Platform (NEPP / E-Pharmacy) is a flagship digital health project conceived, driven, and launched under the NPP government through the direct leadership of former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia. Attempts to repackage the policy as a fresh creation of any subsequent administration collapse under the weight of verifiable facts.
The first unmistakable proof lies in the official launch of the E-Pharmacy on Monday, 18th July 2022, an event personally officiated by Dr Bawumia in Accra. At that time, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) was Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, confirming that the project predates the current NHIA leadership entirely. The launch was not symbolic; it marked the moment when Ghana became the first country in Africa to operationalize a national-scale, fully regulated e-pharmacy system, an achievement widely publicized and attributed to the NPP’s digitalization agenda.
The second key fact is that the E-Pharmacy project was initiated in 2019, when Dr Bawumia publicly challenged the Pharmacy Council to digitize pharmacy services and streamline access to medications nationwide. This challenge was not rhetorical. His office provided technical backing, institutional support, and policy direction that shaped the design and implementation of NEPP. This makes Bawumia not just a ceremonial launcher, but the originating political architect of the entire platform.
At the 2022 launch, Bawumia’s remarks further solidified this ownership. He praised the Pharmacy Council for meeting his 2019 challenge and emphasized that the E-Pharmacy system was a core component of the government’s broader digital transformation of healthcare, a transformation he personally led. The project’s design features, including nationwide price comparison, secure online prescriptions, verification of licensed pharmacies, and the ability for citizens to order medicines via app, website, or shortcode, were built under this NPP-led framework.
Furthermore, the architecture of the NEPP was constructed through inter-agency collaboration during the NPP administration, involving the Ministry of Health, Pharmacy Council, HeFRA, and the NHIA, long before any change in political leadership. By the time the platform went live in July 2022, all regulatory approvals, pilot testing, technical integrations, and national onboarding had already been completed.
These timelines alone demolish any attempt to detach E-Pharmacy from its origins. The project was conceived in 2019, developed between 2020 and 2021, piloted and completed by early 2022, and launched officially on 18th July 2022, all under an NPP government, all under Bawumia’s digitalization portfolio, and all overseen by NHIA CEO.
In short, the E-Pharmacy Policy is not inherited; it is authored. It is not a continuation; it is a completed NPP-era digital health reform whose documented history sits squarely within Bawumia’s tenure. Any narrative suggesting otherwise is simply revisionism unsupported by facts.
[Source:
https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/health/ghana-launches-national-scale-epharmacy-platform.html]
3. Biometric Membership Authentication System (BMAS) / MyNHIS app
Despite recent attempts to rebrand the ongoing biometric authentication reforms at the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), the facts, timelines, and official records tell a story that cannot be rewritten: the Biometric Membership Authentication System (BMAS) and the MyNHIS Mobile App are entirely NPP-era digital innovations spearheaded by former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The clearest evidence is the public launch of the MyNHIS App on 5th December 2022 at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale, personally unveiled by Dr Bawumia during the NHIS Active Month celebration. This was not a pilot. It was the official introduction of a fully functional digital platform allowing Ghanaians to register for the NHIS, renew membership, verify details, and link their GhanaCard using only a mobile phone. The launch theme, “The Role of Digitalization in Modern Healthcare Delivery,” was itself a direct reflection of the NPP government’s digitalization blueprint.
At this same event, the NHIA CEO at the time paid glowing tribute to the NPP’s legacy, crediting former President John Agyekum Kufuor as the originator of the NHIS in 2003, and explicitly acknowledging that the Authority’s digital transformation in recent years had been “heavily superintended by the Digitization Messiah himself, H.E. Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.”
This is not hearsay. It is on record.
Dr Okoe-Boye went further, emphasizing that the MyNHIS App represented a “new level” for the Scheme, an NPP-built platform described as a one-stop digital gateway to health insurance access, and a critical component of Ghana’s path to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). These statements alone make it impossible for any administration to claim authorship of the app or its biometric foundations.
But the evidence does not end in 2022. By March 28, 2024, the NHIA had already begun limited rollout of the Biometric Membership Authentication System (BMAS), the fingerprint verification mechanism designed to eliminate fraud, ghost names, false claims, and impersonation at health facilities. The BMAS had already been piloted in 40 healthcare facilities nationwide.
Again, this was before any administrative change and under an NPP-appointed leadership structure.
The BMAS project itself was spearheaded by the NHIA MIS Directorate, in partnership with Margins Ghana Limited, under the technical leadership of Daniel Blankson, Ag. Director, MIS (Project Director) and Joe Annor-Darkwah, Ag. Deputy Director, Business Systems (Project Coordinator)
Their mandate was to digitize member authentication using biometric technology, a continuation of Bawumia’s long-running push to integrate the GhanaCard into all national identity-linked public services. The NHIA publicly stated that a full rollout was targeted for mid-May 2024, completing a process entirely designed and executed during the NPP administration.
A simple look at the timeline makes the truth unavoidable:
• Conceptualised before 2022
• App launched in December 2022 by Bawumia
• BMAS piloted 2023–2024 under NPP-appointed NHIA leadership
• National rollout scheduled for mid-2024
Not a single stage of this digital reform was created or initiated after the NPP left office. The BMAS and MyNHIS App reforms were not inherited; they were built, launched, and institutionalized by the NPP government through the direct digital reform agenda of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia. Any attempt to detach these reforms from their true origin is nothing more than political reinvention, contradicted by every official document, every timeline, every public statement, and every technological milestone.
The facts are on record. The timelines are indisputable. The BMAS / MyNHIS App belongs squarely to the NPP era.
[Source: https://www.nhis.gov.gh/News/nhis-biometric-membership-authentication-system–limited-rollout-satisfactory-5582 ]
Conclusion
All of these reforms were launched, initiated, or significantly advanced under the previous NPP government, driven by the digital health agenda championed by former Vice-President Dr Bawumia. From the public unveiling of the National Telehealth Program in November 2024, the launch of the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform in July 2022, to the commissioning of the MyNHIS/BMAS app in December 2022, the timelines, official records, and statements from NHIA executives unequivocally attribute these transformative projects to the NPP administration.
Thus, while the NHIA Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations, Dr. Senanu Kwesi Djokoto, rightly emphasizes staff preparedness for a smooth nationwide rollout of these reforms, it is undeniable that the foundation, vision, and execution of these digital health reforms are firmly rooted in the previous NPP government’s leadership spearheaded by Dr. Bawumia and his commitment to modernizing Ghana’s health insurance system.
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