The initiative seeks to improve access to healthcare for inmates, particularly those in remote prison facilities where access to medical supplies has been uneven

Published 7 Nov 2026, 19:03 GMT

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The Ghana Prisons Service is turning to strategic partnerships to address persistent shortages of essential medicines and medical equipment in its facilities, with the launch of a Medicines and Equipment Bank in the Western Region.

The initiative seeks to improve access to healthcare for inmates, particularly those in remote prison facilities where access to medical supplies has been uneven.

The Western Regional launch forms part of efforts to extend the intervention to all regional commands, following its introduction in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Northern regions.

The initiative is being implemented under the Ghana Prisons Service’s Think Prisons 360 transformational agenda, which seeks to modernise prison administration and improve the welfare, healthcare and rehabilitation of inmates.

Speaking at the launch, Deputy Director of Prisons in charge of Agriculture, Ali Ababio, said inadequate medicines, medical supplies and equipment continued to undermine effective healthcare delivery in some prison facilities.

He attributed the situation to the growing inmate population, the increasing burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and the rising cost of healthcare.

Mr Ababio also highlighted the financial and operational burden of referring inmates who require specialist treatment to external hospitals, explaining that such cases often require an average of six prison officers to provide security for one hospitalised inmate in a day.

“Can we achieve effective and sustainable healthcare delivery in prisons when essential medicines and medical supplies are persistently inadequate? It is in response to these challenges that the Ghana Prisons Service Medicine and Equipment Bank initiative was conceived,” he said.

He explained that the bank would provide a coordinated platform for mobilising medicines, medical consumables and equipment from pharmaceutical companies, corporate institutions, healthcare providers, religious organisations and development partners for redistribution to prison facilities nationwide.

The initiative will also support inmates requiring specialised treatment for conditions including diabetes, hepatitis and other liver diseases, skin conditions and cancers.

Mr Ababio appealed to individuals and organisations to make sustained contributions, stressing that the objective was to establish long-term partnerships rather than rely on one-off donations.

For his part, the Western Regional Prisons Commander, Director of Prisons Abraham Allotey, said although the Service had benefited from the generosity of stakeholders over the years, access to medical supplies and equipment remained uneven across prison establishments.

He noted that facilities in remote communities faced greater difficulties in attracting support, making it necessary to establish a more coordinated and equitable distribution system.

“Every inmate, irrespective of the prison facility in which they are held, whether in the city or village, deserves access to basic healthcare. We must, therefore, work together to build a system in which the availability of essential medicines and medical equipment does not depend solely on the location of a prison or its ability to attract individual support,” he said.

Mr Allotey called on corporate and financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, non-governmental organisations, religious bodies, traditional authorities, philanthropists and the media to support the initiative with medicines, equipment, consumables, financial resources and technical expertise.

He said the success of the bank would depend on sustained stakeholder commitment to ensuring that prison health facilities were adequately equipped to meet the medical needs of inmates.

The Ghana Prisons Service maintains that improving healthcare in correctional facilities is not only a humanitarian responsibility but also a public health priority, captured in its guiding message: “Prisons Health is Public Health.”

The Service argues that better healthcare in prisons will strengthen disease prevention and control, protect surrounding communities and support the successful rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates into society.

Ghana Prisons Service launches medicines bank in Western Region to bridge healthcare gaps

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