By Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo
Ashaiman, Dec. 18, GNA – Ghana’s commitment to the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach has strengthened urban health action at the local level, with the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly emerging as a practical example of how national mandates can support multisectoral collaboration.
According to a case analysis by the World Health Organisation (WHO), national policies such as the National Health Policy and the Local Government Act, 2016 (Act 936), mandate decentralised authorities to coordinate development across sectors, creating clear expectations that health considerations should inform planning and governance at all administrative levels.
The report noted that in Ashaiman, this national policy direction provided the rationale and legitimacy for intensifying multisectoral action, enabling the sensitisation of stakeholders, clarification of sectoral responsibilities, and reconfiguration of governance arrangements to better address the determinants of health.
It indicated that the Ashaiman Municipal Health Directorate and its partners leveraged the HiAP mandate to promote a shared understanding of how different departments contribute to health outcomes, despite the municipality’s challenges related to poverty, unplanned urban growth, and environmental conditions.
The national framework, the report said, also supported the revitalisation of existing coordination structures, particularly the Municipal Planning Coordinating Unit (MPCU), which had been established under earlier legislation but whose full potential had not been realised.
It explained that the HiAP mandate provided justification for reconstituting the MPCU and expanding its membership from 13 to 20 to include a broader range of stakeholders, such as the Ghana Water Company Limited, the Ghana Immigration Service, civil society organisations, and other non-traditional departments.
This expansion, according to the report, strengthened the MPCU’s role as the primary coordinating mechanism for multisectoral action in Ashaiman, enhanced its focus on service delivery, and provided a stronger foundation for integrating health considerations into urban planning and development processes.
The initiative also helped to clarify governance roles and expectations for intersectoral collaboration. Although national policies support multisectoral action, the report observed that enforcement of HiAP across ministries, departments, and agencies remains limited, underscoring the need for stronger accountability mechanisms and clearer directives.
It further noted that Ashaiman’s experience demonstrated how local governments could take practical steps to operationalise national mandates, even where enforcement at higher levels was still evolving.
The work in Ashaiman, the report said, has begun to generate wider influence, with the Sekondi-Takoradi Municipal Assembly reportedly visiting the municipality to learn from its experiences, including lessons from a recent sewage infrastructure project, indicating interest in adopting similar approaches.
Building on the progress achieved, the next phase of action will involve the development of a monitoring framework linked to health indicators to track sectoral contributions to improved population health, alongside continued capacity building and strengthened coordination.
The report concluded that through deliberate efforts to align with national policy and strengthen local coordination mechanisms, Ashaiman has taken meaningful steps towards implementing a strategic, multisectoral approach to urban health, illustrating how national HiAP ambitions can be translated into concrete improvements in governance and collaboration at the local level.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade