Background and Scope
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), in collaboration with City Cancer Challenge (C/Can) and the Ghana Ministry of Health (MoH), commissioned a project to improve the availability and accessibility of imaging diagnostic services—including nuclear imaging—across all regions of Ghana via public–private partnership (PPP) models.
The initiative responded to critical gaps in Ghana’s imaging capacity, including severe shortages of equipment, wide inter-regional disparities, limited maintenance capacity, inadequate human resources, and policy-level constraints. A baseline review confirmed that MRI availability in West Africa was among the lowest globally, with Ghana having just 0.48 units per million people.
Our Approach
The project was implemented in two stages:
Needs Assessment – Conducted across 9 regional and 5 teaching hospitals to evaluate demand, infrastructure, workforce, patient perspectives, and operational challenges for modalities such as MRI, CT, X-ray, mammography, ultrasound, PET-CT, and SPECT-CT.
PPP Model Development – Designed and evaluated potential PPP structures for service provision and recommended the most bankable model for IFC and MoH consideration.
A multidisciplinary team—comprising imaging specialists, health economists, PPP experts, local healthcare researchers, and statisticians—worked in close collaboration with stakeholders at national, regional, and facility levels to ensure relevance and sustainability of recommendations.
Methodology:
Data Collection: Combined secondary research from MoH reports, Ghana Health Services databases, NHIA records, and strategic policy documents with primary field data from all 14 hospitals. Hospitals were grouped into five geographic zones for efficient coverage.
Stakeholder Engagement: Interviews with government agencies, hospital administrators, clinicians, and patients to capture both operational realities and user experiences.
Quality Control: Real-time data validation, supervisor-led spot checks, daily statistical reviews, and strict confidentiality protocols ensured accuracy and reliability.
Analysis: Quantitative data were processed using R, and qualitative findings were analysed using structured coding methods. Gaps were benchmarked against agreed global best practices and local standards.
Study Output
The project mapped imaging capacity across 14 hospitals, identified major gaps in access, maintenance, and distribution, and quantified unmet demand. A tailored PPP model was developed to guide the Ministry of Health and IFC in expanding nationwide imaging services.