The Deputy Minister of Health, Prof. Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, has urged nursing and midwifery leaders across the country to translate research findings into practical solutions capable of improving healthcare delivery at the community level, stressing that evidence generated from frontline practice must actively inform national health policy.
She made the call at the opening of the five-day 7th Annual Nursing and Midwifery Leaders and Managers Conference 2026, held under the theme “Bridging Research, Policy and Practice in Nursing and Midwifery to Advance Free Primary Healthcare in Ghana.”
Addressing conference participants, Prof. Ayensu-Danquah emphasised that research, policy and practice cannot operate in isolation if Ghana’s Free Primary Healthcare (FPHC) programme is to genuinely respond to the health needs of communities across the country.
She stressed that the value of research within the nursing and midwifery profession lies not simply in academic documentation, but in its practical application toward strengthening how healthcare is actually delivered at the community level, particularly under the ongoing FPHC rollout.
“Research must move beyond academic documentation and be translated into practical solutions that improve healthcare delivery at the community level.”
Dr. Danquah
Nurses And Midwives Positioned At The Frontline
According to the Deputy Minister, nurses and midwives occupy a strategically important position within Ghana’s health system, given their proximity to communities and their capacity to identify health conditions early, provide preventive care, and support timely referrals before complications develop into more serious, costly conditions.
She encouraged conference participants to draw on the evidence generated through their day-to-day clinical work to inform broader policy decisions, arguing that effective, well-resourced community-level care could significantly reduce the burden currently placed on specialised and tertiary health facilities nationwide.
Awards Recognise Excellence Across Five Categories
As part of the conference proceedings, organisers presented awards recognising outstanding contributions to healthcare provision in Ghana, structured across five distinct categories.
These included Clinical Excellence, Education and Research, Regulation, and Leadership and Governance, alongside the Honourable Minister for Health’s Award for Outstanding Contributions in Underserved Areas.
The inclusion of a dedicated award category for underserved areas reflects a deliberate effort to highlight and celebrate exceptional service delivered by health professionals working within communities that continue to face limited access to healthcare, an issue that remains central to broader national conversations around equitable health service distribution.
Beyond the formal proceedings and awards, the conference has been designed to serve as a broader platform for nursing and midwifery leaders and managers to reflect on current practice, share experiences, and build professional networks across the sector.
Organisers noted that the five-day event provides space for open and constructive dialogue specifically focused on strengthening healthcare delivery systems nationwide.
Aligning Nursing Leadership with National Health Priorities
The conference’s overarching theme, linking research, policy and practice directly to the advancement of Free Primary Healthcare, situates nursing and midwifery leadership firmly within the broader national health agenda currently being pursued under the FPHC programme.
By framing frontline nursing practice as a critical source of evidence for policy development, the Deputy Minister’s remarks suggest an intention to more formally integrate practitioner-generated insights into the ongoing design and refinement of Ghana’s primary healthcare interventions.
Central to Prof. Ayensu-Danquah’s address was the argument that strengthening care at the community level, through the kind of early detection, preventive intervention and timely referral that nurses and midwives are well positioned to provide, could meaningfully ease pressure on Ghana’s more specialised and resource-intensive tertiary health facilities.
This framing aligns closely with broader government messaging around the Free Primary Healthcare programme, which has consistently emphasised prevention and early intervention as strategies for reducing the volume of advanced, costly cases eventually reaching hospitals.
Sector-Wide Gathering with National Significance
With nursing and midwifery leaders and managers gathered from across the country for the duration of the conference, the event offers a significant opportunity for cross-regional exchange of ideas and experiences, particularly around the practical challenges and successes encountered in implementing Free Primary Healthcare at the community level.
The specific inclusion of an award honouring outstanding contributions in underserved areas further reinforces the conference’s broader emphasis on equity within Ghana’s health system, acknowledging the particular dedication required of health professionals serving in communities where infrastructure, staffing and resources often remain comparatively limited.
As the five-day conference continues, its outcomes are likely to feed into ongoing conversations about how best to strengthen the integration of nursing and midwifery expertise into Ghana’s evolving primary healthcare policy framework.
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