Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has directed the Health Facilities Regulatory Agencies (HeFRA) to shut down any health facility that fails to meet sanitation standards.
Addressing HeFRA on Thursday, July 10, 2025, he emphasised that their role goes beyond managing health facilities to transforming them, which is crucial for resetting the country’s health sector.
He explained that health facilities should be places for preventing diseases, not contracting them and therefore HeFRA must establish and enforce high standards to ensure trustworthy care for all Ghanaians.
“You have the mandate to close any facility that is not living up to expectation, we are not asking you to go and manage, we are asking you to go and transform; the resetting agenda must be on.
“We cannot go and take diseases from health facilities, we go to health facilities to prevent or cure diseases and therefore HeFRA, it is your responsibility; set a standard, enforce it and make sure every Ghanaian everywhere receives care they can trust when they visit our health facilities,” he stated.
He recounted his recent visit to some health facilities, describing the appalling conditions, with unhygienic washrooms, poorly maintained wards and careless disposal of used needles on the floor of the wards.
He reminded HeFRA of their clear directive to make cleanliness a top priority in Ghana’s health facilities, and to take all necessary steps to achieve this goal.
“And so HeFRA, you have a clear mandate and matching orders that our health facilities should be clean and safe,” he reiterated.
