The Ministry of Health (MoH) has assured that the backlog of critical medical supplies locked at Ghanaian ports will be cleared within the next two weeks. 

This follows mounting pressure from health-focused Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), who have threatened to demonstrate for the release of essential Global Fund medicines for malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV.

The medical supplies have been detained at the ports since May 2023, with the government attributing the delay to new exemption bill payment processes and additional charges.

Health Minister, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, pledged to meet the two-week deadline for clearing the supplies. 

Speaking to journalists in Accra on Thursday, 13 June 2024, Dr. Okoe Boye emphasised his personal commitment to resolving the issue.

“We are committed to getting the containers out and for me personally, irrespective of the bureaucracies involved with government and all that I have given myself two weeks. 

“In two weeks, I myself will not be encouraged if there are two more or one more containers left at the port," Dr. Okoe Boye stated.

He further underscored the urgency of the situation, noting: “In fact, and this one you can take it from me.”

Dr. Okoe Boye added: “If by two weeks we still have containers at the port, you will not see me, I will be sitting rather at the port. I will sit at the port with them until everything comes out.”