President Mahama Urges African Regulators to Strengthen Patient Protection Across Borders
President John Dramani Mahama has called on African medical regulatory authorities to deepen continental cooperation and harmonise professional standards to ensure patients receive safe and quality healthcare across national borders.
He said Africa’s changing health landscape, characterised by increased mobility of health professionals, technological advances and emerging public health threats, required regulators to work more closely in protecting the public.
President Mahama made the call on Monday in Accra at the opening of the 28th Annual International Conference of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa (AMCOA), hosted by Ghana under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Medical and Dental Council.
The conference is on the theme: “Responsive Regulation for Safer Communities Towards Universal Health Coverage.”
The President said regulation should not be viewed as a bureaucratic process but as the foundation of patient safety and public confidence in healthcare.
“Public trust is the currency of every good health system, and regulators are among its principal custodians,” he stated.
He noted that doctors, dentists and other health professionals increasingly crossed borders for training, employment and better opportunities, making it imperative for African regulators to strengthen collaboration in credential verification, recognition of qualifications and ethical recruitment.
President Mahama stressed that Africa should not compete against itself for a limited pool of health professionals but rather cooperate to train more practitioners, retain critical skills and distribute healthcare workers more equitably across the continent.
“A border may separate two nations, but it should never separate Africans from safe healthcare,” he said.
He urged regulators to adopt responsive, fair and evidence-based regulatory systems capable of addressing challenges posed by telemedicine, artificial intelligence, misinformation and fragile healthcare environments.
The President expressed confidence that the conference would produce practical policy recommendations, stronger partnerships and renewed commitment to high professional standards across Africa
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
