The African Media and Malaria Research Network (AMMREN), Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) have called on the media to play a stronger role in amplifying community concerns and promoting accountability in healthcare delivery.
They said sustained media engagement was essential to ensuring that concerns raised by patients and communities about health services reached health managers and policymakers for action.
The call was made during a virtual engagement with journalists on the Community Scorecard Project in Ghana on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
The four-year project, being implemented in partnership with the GHS and with funding from Expertise France, provides a platform for community members and health facility staff to jointly assess the quality of health services, identify gaps and agree on solutions.
Media role
The Executive Secretary of AMMREN, Dr Charity Binka, said improving healthcare delivery required not only effective systems but also access to information, effective communication and sustained public engagement.
She said the media had a critical responsibility to bring community concerns to the attention of health authorities and ensure that challenges affecting service delivery received public attention.
Dr Binka said AMMREN was committed to bridging the gap between health research, policy, communities and the media.
She noted that informed communities, engaged health workers and well-equipped journalists were essential to building health systems that were responsive and accountable to the people.
She expressed appreciation to the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, Hope for Future Generations (HFFG) and the West Africa Programme to Combat AIDS and STI (WAPCAS) for their participation in the initiative.
GHS commitment
The Director of the relevant GHS division, Dr Samuel K. Boakye-Boateng, described the media as a bridge between communities, health managers, policymakers and the wider public.
He pledged the GHS’s commitment to engaging openly with journalists, sharing evidence and explaining challenges affecting healthcare delivery.
Dr Boakye-Boateng said stronger collaboration between the health service and the media would help ensure that information on healthcare delivery reached the public and that community concerns were properly communicated to the relevant authorities.
Project progress
A presentation at the engagement showed that the project had so far trained 80 regional facilitators and 52 journalists.
It said 685 of the targeted 1,850 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) zones had been trained, while 47 of the targeted 135 district hospitals had also received training.
The project is, however, facing challenges including inconsistent quarterly reporting and delays in the release of funds.
The Community Scorecard approach brings community members and health facility staff together to assess services, identify weaknesses and develop solutions aimed at improving healthcare delivery.
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