Ghana has an unusual opportunity to promote itself as a medical and health tourism destination through a platform that already commands the attention of television audiences across Africa.
That platform is Accra Medic, the medical drama series broadcast on Akwaaba Magic on DStv Channel 150 and GOtv Supa Channel 101.
Produced in Ghana by Revele Productions, creators of successful productions such as Home Sweet Home and Run Baby Run, Accra Medic is filmed on the prestigious premises of the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).
The series follows the lives of hospital staff as they navigate their professional and personal challenges while caring for patients.
Having watched episodes of the series, there is little doubt that Accra Medic demonstrates the capacity of Ghana’s creative industry to produce television content of international quality.
More importantly, however, the series presents the Government of Ghana with an opportunity that goes beyond entertainment.
Turning entertainment into a national economic asset
The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and the Ghana Tourism Authority should consider partnering Revele Productions to deliberately use Accra Medic as part of a national campaign to position Ghana as a destination for medical and health tourism.
The rationale is straightforward.
People make decisions based on what they see, hear and experience.
Television remains one of the most powerful instruments for shaping perceptions, creating familiarity and influencing choices.
A potential medical tourist who repeatedly sees Ghanaian doctors, nurses, laboratories, hospitals, diagnostic facilities and medical specialists delivering quality services could begin to see Ghana differently — not merely as a tourist destination, but as a place where quality healthcare can be accessed.
This is where Accra Medic could become strategically important.
Rather than government spending entirely on conventional international advertising campaigns, it could integrate health tourism promotion into a popular television production that already has a compelling storyline and an established audience.
Open Ghana’s hospitals to the camera
The Government should facilitate access to a wider range of Ghanaian health institutions for the production of future episodes.
While the series has so far prominently featured UGMC, future productions could showcase other major public and private health facilities.
These could include The Bank Hospital, Maritime Hospital in Tema, 37 Military Hospital and teaching hospitals across the country.
Selected private hospitals such as Nyaho Medical Centre, Accra Medical Centre, Focus Orthopedic Hospital and Sweden Ghana Medical Centre among others could also participate, subject to appropriate agreements and production requirements.
The objective would not be to turn the programme into a conventional government advertisement.
Rather, the facilities could be incorporated naturally into compelling storylines that demonstrate the breadth of healthcare services available in Ghana.
The same approach could be extended to medical laboratories, diagnostic centres, research institutions, pharmaceutical companies and medical technology providers.
Medical professionals could also participate in carefully designed roles, complementing the professional cast and bringing greater authenticity to the medical narratives.
Showcasing Ghana’s healthcare capacity
The partnership could create storylines around patients arriving in Ghana for specialised treatment, including expatriates and visitors from other African countries.
An episode, for instance, could follow an international patient who travels to Ghana for a particular medical procedure, undergoes diagnosis and treatment, and interacts with Ghanaian specialists.
Such storytelling would communicate something that an ordinary tourism advertisement may struggle to achieve: the actual experience of seeking healthcare in Ghana.
It could show the professionals, facilities, technology, laboratories, patient care and supporting services involved in the healthcare journey.
If handled professionally and ethically, these storylines could help build confidence in Ghana’s healthcare ecosystem.
The government could finance specific episodes or thematic productions focusing on health tourism.
It could even explore taking an equity stake in the production, subject to appropriate legal, financial and governance arrangements.
That would change the relationship from government being merely an advertiser to government becoming a strategic partner in using the creative industry to advance a national economic objective.
A pan-African marketing platform
The reach of Accra Medic makes the proposition particularly attractive.
Because DStv and GOtv have audiences across sub-Saharan Africa and surrounding markets, a Ghana-produced medical drama has the potential to expose Ghanaian healthcare facilities and professionals to audiences well beyond Ghana.
That creates an opportunity to build awareness among Africans who may already travel outside their countries for medical treatment.
Ghana could seek to position itself as a regional healthcare destination where patients from other African countries can access selected medical services while enjoying the country’s hospitality, tourism attractions and business environment.
The campaign could therefore connect healthcare with Ghana’s wider tourism proposition.
A person travelling to Ghana for medical treatment could also spend time with family, recover in the country, visit tourist attractions and patronise local businesses.
Medical tourism would consequently generate activity beyond hospitals.
The investment opportunity
A successful medical tourism strategy could also have an important secondary benefit: investment attraction.
If Ghana succeeds in attracting more international patients, the resulting demand could create incentives for major healthcare investors to establish facilities in the country.
Potential investment areas could include specialist hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical equipment production, rehabilitation centres, research institutions and healthcare technology.
The arrival of such investments could expand healthcare capacity while creating employment opportunities for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, biomedical engineers, researchers, technicians and other professionals.
The country could therefore move from simply exporting patients for specialised healthcare to building an ecosystem capable of attracting patients, professionals, investors and technology.
A partnership across government and industry
The opportunity requires collaboration. The Ministry of Health could provide the technical and institutional framework.
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts and the Ghana Tourism Authority could develop the tourism and international marketing component.
Revele Productions could provide the creative platform and storytelling expertise.
Hospitals, laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and medical professionals could provide the expertise and facilities required to tell credible stories.
The partnership should, however, maintain a clear distinction between entertainment and factual medical information.
Medical claims should be accurate, patient privacy must be protected and participating institutions should meet appropriate professional and regulatory standards.
From television drama to national branding
The potential value of Accra Medic extends beyond medical tourism.
A successful government partnership could simultaneously demonstrate the quality of Ghana’s film and television production industry to international audiences.
It would show that Ghana possesses the creative talent, actors, writers, producers, technical professionals and locations capable of producing internationally competitive television content.
The initiative could therefore serve two national objectives at once: promoting Ghana as a healthcare destination while strengthening Ghana’s image as a creative-industry hub.
Govt should seize the opportunity
The Government of Ghana should not view Accra Medic simply as another television drama.
It represents a potentially powerful national communication and economic-development platform.
The country already possesses hospitals, medical professionals, laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, tourism attractions and a growing creative industry.
What is needed is a coordinated strategy to connect these assets and present them compellingly to international audiences.
Accra Medic provides one possible vehicle.
The Government should therefore explore a structured partnership with Revele Productions to develop selected storylines around Ghanaian healthcare, medical expertise, research, innovation and health tourism.
The goal should not merely be to produce more episodes.
The goal should be to turn a successful Ghanaian television production into part of a broader national strategy to attract patients, investment, talent and international attention to Ghana’s healthcare sector.
If Ghana is serious about becoming a medical tourism destination in West Africa, it must think beyond brochures, billboards and conventional advertising.
Sometimes, the most powerful way to sell a destination is to tell its story.
Accra Medic is already telling a Ghanaian medical story.
The Government should explore how to make that story work for Ghana’s health, tourism, creative and investment ambitions.
By ELVIS DARKO, Accra
