New Patriotic Party lawmakers on Friday demanded an investigation into the nationwide shutdown of critical electronic health information systems over an unpaid bill of about $64,511, warning that the disruption exposed weaknesses in the country’s digital health infrastructure.
The Minority Caucus in parliament described the incident as a digital health crisis caused by poor financial planning and institutional oversight.
In a statement signed by its Ranking Member on the Committee on Health, Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, the caucus questioned how essential national health systems could be taken offline over an outstanding payment of $64,510.95.
According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), several electronic health information platforms, including the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS2), had been inaccessible since October 29 after technology provider Akamai suspended 10 servers over the unpaid bill.
Other affected platforms include eTracker, the Planning and Budget Management Information System, HIV and tuberculosis trackers, the National Malaria Data Repository and the country’s data-exchange gateway.
DHIMS2 is Ghana’s main platform for collecting, validating and reporting routine health information from medical facilities across the country.
The GHS has directed health facilities to record data for October and November on paper pending the restoration of the affected systems.
The service’s Director-General, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, has assured health officials that the disruption has not resulted in a security breach or data loss.
“There has been no security breach, and no data has been lost,” he said in a November 2 memo, adding that encrypted nightly backups were stored outside the suspended account and were current up to 29 October.
The GHS said it was finalising arrangements with Akamai and seeking approval to settle the outstanding payment, describing this as the quickest route to restoring the systems.
An alternative option involving the procurement of new servers and restoration from backups could take up to six weeks, according to the service.
The Minority said the shutdown raised questions about the government’s digital health strategy, particularly after the introduction of the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS) in 2025.
The new platform was announced by Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh as a state-owned system intended to replace the Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS) and strengthen government control over health data.
The opposition lawmakers argued that the disruption demonstrated the need for greater investment in the sustainability and reliability of the country’s digital health infrastructure.
They also questioned the resources committed to the new system, noting that the Ministry of Health’s budget had increased from approximately 17.8 billion cedis ($1.6 billion) in 2025 to 22.8 billion cedis in 2026.
The Minority called for a detailed account of expenditure on GHIMS, including implementation costs, progress and its integration with existing health information platforms.
The dispute comes amid disagreements over the performance of the previous LHIMS project.
The government has said the $100 million contract awarded in 2019 to connect 950 health facilities had fallen short of its targets, with only about 450 facilities connected by December 2024 despite more than $77 million being paid.
However, Lightwave E-Healthcare Solutions Ltd has disputed that account, saying it delivered 72 percent of the contract value and that patient data remained stored on Ministry of Health servers in Accra.
The Minority also questioned Akamai’s decision to suspend services supporting critical health infrastructure, arguing that contractual disputes should not jeopardise essential public services.
It called for an independent audit of Ghana’s digital health infrastructure, an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the suspension and measures to ensure sustainable financing and uninterrupted access to health information systems.
The caucus further demanded an immediate restoration of the affected platforms and an account of government expenditure on GHIMS.
The disruption comes as health authorities are managing an Ebola alert involving travellers from affected countries, with a 21-day monitoring process relying partly on the country’s health reporting infrastructure.
The GHS has said it is working to restore the affected systems.Source:Jonathan Ofori
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