When Ghana allocated GHS 9.9 billion to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in March 2025 and launched the Mahama Cares programme to improve treatment for cancer, kidney disease, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, it demonstrated a strong commitment to better healthcare.
Yet behind these investments lies a less visible challenge: many hospitals still struggle to maintain a reliable supply of sterile medical products.
Without reliable access to sterile medical supplies such as syringes, surgical instruments and wound dressings, even the best-equipped hospitals cannot provide safe treatment or effectively reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections.
A 2023 study published in BMC Health Services Research found that public health facilities in Ghana experienced an average of more than 50 stockout days across 20 essential medical commodities.
The World Bank has also reported persistent shortages of medical equipment in district and teaching hospitals, with even leading Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital periodically facing supply constraints.
Across Africa, healthcare-associated infections claim thousands of lives each year and cost health systems far more than preventive sterilisation of medical equipment.
The encouraging news is that Ghana already has an effective solution. Through the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), the country provides gamma radiation sterilisation of medical equipment for hospitals and manufacturers. Syringes, dressings, surgical instruments, tissue grafts and pharmaceutical products can all be sterilised using radiation.
Compared with ethylene oxide sterilisation, gamma irradiation offers important advantages. It leaves no toxic chemical residues, penetrates sealed packaging evenly and allows products to be used immediately after processing without lengthy quarantine periods. The method reliably destroys bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms while preserving the integrity of medical products.
However, expanding radiation sterilisation capacity requires more than irradiation equipment. It also depends on trained specialists, quality management systems and adherence to international standards. As the Radiation Processing Specialist at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Sunil Sabharwal notes, “Transferring knowledge and providing training on implementation of international standards for validation, process control and routine monitoring in the radiation sterilization of health care products requires a well thought out and tailor-made plan, suitable for a country’s requirements.”
This is why international cooperation plays a key role in helping countries develop reliable radiation processing infrastructure. One notable example is Rosatom’s project in Bolivia – the Centre for Nuclear Research and Technology in El Alto. It is designed as a multifunctional platform combining different medical, research and applied activities.
For Ghana, this experience is particularly relevant as it demonstrates that radiation technologies can become part of a broader system supporting the development of healthcare, science and industrial infrastructure, rather than remaining a highly specialised field. In this regard, company’s experience could serve as one possible model for the gradual transformation of BNARI into a larger centre for medical sterilisation and radiation processing.
The experience of countries that have invested in radiation processing shows that this technology is already an established part of modern healthcare. According to the IAEA, radiation sterilisation is used in more than 50 countries, and over 40% of all single-use medical devices in developed economies are sterilised this way before reaching hospitals. For example, in North America, companies such as Sterigenics operate irradiation facilities across the United States and Canada, providing sterilisation services for medical device manufacturers. This illustrates how radiation processing has become an integral part of healthcare supply chains rather than a niche scientific technology.
For Ghana, expanding BNARI’s capacity could therefore mean joining an existing global system rather than creating a new market from scratch. The opportunity extends beyond domestic healthcare.
Ghana is already one of West Africa’s leading logistics hubs, supported by modern ports and air connections. Neighbouring countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso currently lack industrial-scale gamma sterilisation facilities, creating an opportunity for Ghana to play a similar role in West Africa by meeting domestic demand while exporting high-value sterilisation services across the region.
Such a strategy fits Ghana’s broader ambition to create more value at home. The opening of the country’s first state-owned gold refinery in 2024 reflected a policy of processing strategic resources domestically rather than exporting raw materials.
Medical sterilisation follows the same logic: instead of relying solely on imported sterile products, Ghana can build scientific expertise, strengthen advanced manufacturing and develop a new export-oriented service sector.
Importantly, the country already possesses the essential foundations. BNARI is operational, GAEC has experienced specialists, demand for sterile medical products continues to grow, and Ghana enjoys a strategic location for regional trade.
Expanding radiation sterilisation from a specialised scientific service into a commercial industry would address domestic shortages while opening new opportunities in neighbouring markets.
The expansion of radiation sterilisation would bring benefits both to Ghana’s healthcare system and economy. Hospitals would gain more reliable access to sterile medical products and reduce healthcare-associated infections, while the country could develop a new high-value technology sector based on national scientific expertise.
By investing in this field, Ghana has an opportunity to strengthen patient safety and become West Africa’s regional hub for one of modern medicine’s most essential services.
