Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia (3rd left) with Dr. Frank Ankobea (middle), Health Minister KwakuAgyeman-Manu (2nd right) and executive members of the GMA cutting the 60th anniversary cake
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) GH¢1.2b debt owed service providers as far back as 2014 has been fully paid by government.
Announcing this at the 60th Annual General Conference of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) in Koforidua, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said by clearing the debts, subscribers of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) would have improved service delivery.
According to him, the NHIS “has suffered great neglect and blatant mismanagement”, with some service providers threatening and some reverting to the cash-and-carry system, which almost defeated the purpose of the scheme.
“Since we have been in office, this GH¢1.2 billion debt that we inherited, which covered from 2014, 2015 and 2016, has now been fully paid off,” the vice president stated.
Dr. Bawumia further challenged the CEO and the authorities at the NHIS to ensure the enrolment of Ghanaians onto the scheme through a digital online platform to lessen the burden and stress people go through before getting access to their cards.
He also indicated that “procurement has began and definitely in 2019, you will have every constituency; at least 275 ambulances; they are coming, and I think it will be very helpful for us.”
President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Frank Ankobea, in his remarks bemoaned the lack of adequate health workers in deprived communities, saying the situation has contributed to the decline of quality healthcare delivery in the country.
He said although the country has qualified medical practitioners ready to be employed, health facilities in the regions have not declared vacancies for new doctors to be employed.
“We are aware of the attempt of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to resolve this by introducing the ‘no posting’ policy. We are, however, encouraging facilities in the regions to declare vacancies to be filled,” he said.
Dr. Ankobea raised concerns about the incidence of unemployed medical doctors and dentists in the country in spite of the fact that Ghana still suffers from an abysmal doctor to patient ratio.
He, therefore, urged the government to consider introducing incentive packages to attract and retain doctors in the deprived areas of the country.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri