President John Mahama has indicated that the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration to be under his watch will ensure the allocation of a percentage of the petroleum revenue for the funding of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The presidential candidate of the NDC said this at the Banquet Hall, State House, on Wednesday in Accra while giving the highlights of the party’s yet-to-be launched manifesto.
The president stated that there was the need to rework the sustainability of the NHIS, hence the need to “look for new sources of funding for the National Health Insurance.”
He said, “In the next four years, my proposal is that a percentage of the annual budget funding amount that comes from petroleum revenues should be allocated to the National Health Insurance Scheme.”
The president argued that the proposal being made by his party would “prolong the life of the scheme and make it more efficient.”
According to him, “We are taking out the fraud, we are introducing more computerisation, bringing in more claim centres and all that; and so it will make the scheme more efficient going into the future.”
He rubbished claims by critics that the NHIS has collapsed, saying, “NHIS has not collapsed. We need to rework the sustainability of NHIS. It means that we are going to look for new sources of funding for NHIS. We’ll continue to improve the quality of healthcare by registering more vulnerable people on the NHIS.”
New Mental Health facilities
Still under health, Mr Mahama disclosed that the NDC government would prioritise mental healthcare and ensure the strict implementation of the Mental Health Act, 2012, Act 846.
He proposed, among other things, the need to “move the Accra Psychiatric Hospital from its current location to Pantang, and develop the Pantang Mental Hospital into a first class mental health facility.”
In addition, he said the NDC would also build two more psychiatric hospitals in the Ashanti and Northern Regions to help reduce the congestions at the mental health facilities available currently in the country.
According to him, the NDC would promote mental healthcare when given the nod at the polls in December.
He further indicated that the NDC intends to build 10 polyclinics in the Central Region, five polyclinics each in the Greater Accra, Northern and Brong Ahafo Regions over the next five years if they are retained into office.
The president said the party would also support the large scale cultivation of medicinal plants across the country.
BY Melvin Tarlue