The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has suspended access to several electronic health information systems nationwide after its cloud hosting provider shut down the servers over outstanding administrative issues.
The shutdown, which took effect on October 29, 2026, has affected the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS2) and other digital platforms used for health data collection, reporting and monitoring.
In an internal memo dated November 2 and addressed to regional and divisional directors, the Director-General of the GHS, Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, said the provider had switched off all 10 servers hosting the systems.
He, however, assured health officials that the incident had not resulted in a security breach or data loss.
“There has been no security breach, and no data has been lost. Nightly encrypted backups of every system are held outside the suspended account and are current to 29th October 2026,” he said.
Among the affected platforms is DHIMS2, which is used for health data entry, validation, analysis and report extraction. The Planning and Budget Management Information System (PBMIS), which provides access to institutional plans and budgets, has also been disrupted.
Other affected systems include eTracker, the Family Planning and Health Care platform, Operational Training and Supervision Support assessments and the Non-Communicable Disease tracker.
Although their web platforms are unavailable, the Android applications for some of these systems can still operate offline.
The HIV and tuberculosis trackers and the ISRS sample tracker have also lost web access and laboratory integration, while their Android applications remain functional offline.
The National Malaria Data Repository, inpatient morbidity and mortality Events system, SMS alerts, transport system and Community Health Information Management portal are also affected.
The shutdown has further disrupted the data-exchange gateway used to transmit birth notifications to the National Identification Authority and the Births and Deaths Registry.
To prevent gaps in health reporting, Dr Akoriyea has directed health facilities and districts to maintain paper-based records until the systems are restored.
Facilities have been instructed to complete registers and monthly summary forms manually to ensure that October and November 2026 data can be entered into DHIMS2 when access resumes.
The Director-General outlined two options for restoring the systems.
The first involves settling the outstanding balance to reinstate the existing Akamai account, which would restore the platforms to their previous state without rebuilding them.
The second option would require the GHS to procure new servers and reconstruct the systems using existing backups, a process estimated to take up to six weeks after the necessary capacity is acquired.
Dr Akoriyea said the Service was finalising arrangements with Akamai and seeking approval for US$64,510.95 to restore the account.
He appealed to the sector minister to support efforts to expedite approval of the payment.
He added that once services were restored, the GHS would consider moving to a Ghana-based hosting provider through a controlled process involving parallel operations and a funded backup arrangement.
