The Ghana Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs crystallises recommendations of over 100 people living with NCDs, representing a wide range of NCD conditions for improvements in NCD prevention and control in Ghana.
PublishedMay 2019
AuthorNCD Alliance
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In November 2018, 106 people living with NCDs, including caregivers from eight regions of Ghana participated in an online consultation aimed at gathering first-hand information on their key priorities, challenges and recommendations and amplifying the role of people living with NCDs in Ghana’s NCD response.
Subsequently, 111 people living with NCDs, members of Ghana NCD Alliance, Ghana Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service representatives, Parliamentarians, Food and Drug Authority officials and other NCD stakeholders met on November 14-15 at a two-day workshop titled 'Ensuring a People-Centred Approach to Ghana’s NCD Response’ hosted by the Ghana NCD Alliance in partnership with the NCD Alliance in Accra. The workshop, with some segments open only to people living with NCDs, to vocalise their needs and priorities and provide recommendations in the form of key advocacy ‘asks’.
In December 2018, Ghana NCD Alliance facilitated the creation of a working group who synthesised the dialogues from the workshop into a draft of the Ghana Advocacy Agenda of People Living with NCDs that was endorsed by the wider group of people living with NCDs. Advocacy asks were organised into four key action areas: human rights and social justice; prevention; treatment care and support; and meaningful involvement.
Our Views, Our Voices advocate, Ghana
Since the launch of the Ghana Advocacy Agenda in 2019 and with the voices of people living with NCDs as its central pivot, the Ghana NCD Alliance has leveraged it as a community mobilisation and advocacy tool. The Ghana Advocacy Agenda has formed the foundation for the Ghana NCD Alliance’s call for stronger NCD prevention and control in the country, higher taxes on unhealthy commodities to fund the National Health Insurance Scheme and integration of NCDs in Universal Health Coverage frameworks. The Ghana Advocacy Agenda has also catalysed the formation of community networks of people living with NCDs. Traditional and social media engagement have amplified voices and testimonials of people living with NCDs, particularly those in communities.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana NCD Alliance has amplified the specific concerns and asks of people living with NCDs, including in a letter to the President of the Republic of Ghana in April 2020. A number of priority ‘asks’ were detailed, as well as broader recommendations on strengthening NCD prevention and control during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of the Ghana national elections in December 2020, the Ghana Advocacy Agenda was presented to a number of Ghana Presidential candidates including the incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo.