President Akufo-Addo has appointed Dr Da Costa Aboagye to replace Dr Bernard Okoe Boye as the Chief Executive Officer for the National Health Insurance Authority, (NHIA).
Dr Da Costa Aboagye until his appointment was the Director of Health Promotion at the Ghana Health Service.
A letter signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante said, “The appointment is pursuant to Section 14 (1) of the National Health Insurance Act, 2012 (Act 852), …pending receipt of the constitutionally required advice of the governing board of the Authority given in consultation with the Public Services Commission.”
Profile of Dr Da Costa Aboagye
Dr Aboagye has PhD in Health and Wellbeing with research focused on the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana from Leeds Beckett University, a Master’s degree in Public Health and Health Promotion from the same university and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Cape Coast. His other qualifications include a higher national certificate in pharmacy technology from Kumasi Technical University obtained.
The 45-year-old national health insurance expert is currently serving as the Director of Health Promotion in the Ghana Health Service and brings to the table a wealth of experience in the fields of National Health Insurance Finance, Public Health and Health Promotion. He led Ghana’s risk communication efforts and was part of the presidential task force for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana from 2020 to 2023.
Before being appointed as the Director of Health Promotion, he was the cohort leader for Public Health and Health Promotion programme at the University of West London, United Kingdom and an external examiner on National Health Insurance Financing, Public Health and Health Promotion at both the University of Salford and London Metropolitan University.
In the ECOWAS community, chaired the Public Health Risk Communication and Community Engagement for Disease Control in the West Africa Health Organisation. This role entails facilitating experience sharing, advocacy, learning and promotion of better health through building stronger health systems across the 15 ECOWAS member states to achieve universal health coverage and sustainable development goals.
Additionally, he serves as the Chairman of the Africa CDC Public Health Risk Communication and Community Engagements Community of Practice for the 55 member states, aimed at promoting best practices, and health system strengthening including national health insurance finance, continuous learning and knowledge exchange in Africa.
He has about eleven research papers in the field of health insurance, public health and health promotion.
Dr Da Costa Aboagye has received numerous awards and citations, including the MTN Young Professionals Role Model in Health (Gold Category, 2020), the Golden Citizen Award (2021) and overall National Best Health Leader of the Year 2023.
He was honoured with the Order of the Volta – Companion Category, the highest award of the Republic of Ghana, for his contributions and sacrifices during Ghana’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023.