Labram Musah, the National Coordinator of the NCD Alliance, Ghana, has been named Ghana’s 2025 UHC Champion by the global Universal Health Coverage campaign group.

MMusah was named among a 69-distinguished global cohort of health advocates, policymakers, and practitioners dedicated to ensuring that every person everywhere has access to quality health services without facing financial hardship.

The global Universal Health Coverage campaign group yearly recognises individual champions for their extraordinary contributions to advancing universal health coverage.

Musah, who is also the Executive Director of the Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development, Ghana (VAST-Ghana), as the 2025 UHC Champion, would take on a broader ambassadorial role.

He would lead in sharing Ghana’s experiences and lessons with the global health community, inspiring advocates across Africa and beyond, and contributing to the collective momentum toward the goal of health for all by 2030.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency said Mr. Musah’s recognition reflected not only the impact of his work but also the campaign’s core spirit: inspiring action, amplifying grassroots voices, and demonstrating that meaningful change is possible through committed community and advocacy collaboration.

It stated that central to the honour was the landmark policy achievement for millions of Ghanaians through the 2024 Civil Society NCDs Manifesto for Political Parties, which elevated NCDs to the highest levels of national political discourse.

“Under Mr. Musah’s leadership, the NCD Alliance Ghana through the NCDs Manifesto, successfully advocated for the integration of comprehensive NCD and mental health services into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to remove financial barriers,” the statement said.

It said the recognition further validates the Alliance’s call for political parties to prioritize the treatment, care, and prevention of NCDs as essential developmental issues.

The statement added, “By aligning national efforts with the Ghana UHC Roadmap and international treaties, Mr. Musah has ensured that the voices of people living with NCDs and mental health conditions are meaningfully involved in shaping a health system that leaves no one behind.”

Furthermore, Mr. Musah is leveraging the VAST Ghana platform to intensify advocacy for sustainable domestic funding and resource mobilization via health excise taxes and recognizing that NCDs and mental health remain critically underfunded.

The statement said a key demand was achieved in 2025: the Government of Ghana exempted the National Health Insurance Fund from the list of statutory funds subject to a fiscal cap.

“A move that protects and strengthens the financial foundation of the country’s health insurance system,” it pointed out.

It stated that, “This progress, alongside the launch of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund and roll-out of the Free Primary Health Care initiative, marks a historic moment for health equity in Ghana.”

The statement noted that the removal of caps on the National Health Insurance Fund was a crucial step toward sustainable financing for universal health coverage and that the VAST-Ghana would now continue with the strengthening of primary health care and ensuring that NCD and mental health services are fully integrated and accessible to all.

Mr Musah throughout his career, has established himself as one of Ghana’s most reliable and respected advocates for health equity, and has amplified the voices of patients, caregivers, and communities who have traditionally been excluded from the health policy dialogue.

His work has consistently centred on the intersection of health financing, primary care, and inclusion of NCD and mental health services in national health coverage frameworks – areas that remain critically underfunded in Ghana and across sub-Saharan Africa.

Through coalition-building, stakeholder engagement, and public campaigns, he has helped shift the national conversation on what universal health coverage must truly look like for ordinary Ghanaians.

The statement gave the assurance that the NCD Alliance, Ghana, will continue its work to strengthen primary health care infrastructure as the backbone of Ghana’s UHC agenda.

“These will include the championing of investment in facilities, the health workforce, and essential medicines at the community level while people with lived experience of NCDs and mental health conditions will remain central to this effort, with the Alliance committed to deepening their meaningful participation in policy design and implementation,” it concluded.

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