Essential Package of Health Services Country Snapshot

Resource Type: Brief
Authors: Jenna Wright
Published: July 2015

Resource Description:

An Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) can be defined as the package of services that the government is providing or is aspiring to provide to its citizens in an equitable manner.

This country snapshot is one in a series of 24 snapshots looking at the governance dimensions of Essential Packages of Health Services in the Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Death priority countries. The snapshot explores several important dimensions of the EPHS in the country, such as how government policies contribute to the service coverage, population coverage, and financial coverage of the package.

Ghana’s EPHS is not entirely straightforward. The government has defined a number of packages of health services and is delivering them through multiple national programs. We believe it is important to consider the combination of these packages in Ghana’s EPHS. The package of services that has received the most international attention is the benefit package of the NHIS. This scheme was established by law in 2003, became operational in 2005, and continues to grow and evolve today.

Essential Package of Health Services and Health Benefit Plans Mapping Brief

Resource Type: Brief
Authors: Lauren Windemeyer
Published: March 2017

Resource Description:

Many governments are scaling up health benefit plans, such as social health insurance, to increase population health coverage. This brief presents findings from a mapping between the services covered under the country’s prominent health benefit plan(s) to the country’s Essential Package of Health Services. The mapping analyzes the extent to which the plan(s) cover essential services.

This brief presents HFG’s findings and observations for policymakers and program managers seeking to promote alignment of services in the EPHS with services covered in the HBP and move toward universal health coverage.