Officials of NHIA and KNUST exchanging the MoU after the signing ceremony
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has entered into an agreement with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to screen 3,000 communities in the Ashanti Region for various health conditions.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) beacons the start of investments in the prevention of illnesses as against the focus on the payment of healthcare cost, which has been the convention of Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) since its inception almost 20 years ago.
The MoU details that a total number of 3,000 communities that will benefit from free health screening to be undertaken by medical students, health care professionals and the academia from KNUST.
The exercise is aimed at generating empirical findings on diabetes and hypertension cases in the catchment area. This data will then form the basis for the NHIS resolve to veer into preventive healthcare.
Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony at the NHIA head office in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Okoe Boye, indicated that preventive healthcare is a cost-effective means of warding off illnesses and averting future complications that may arise.
Stating the reason behind the focus on diabetes and hypertension cases, Dr. Okoe Boye stated that over 60 per cent of adult deaths are related to these two aliments, thus, investing in them will not only be beneficial to the Authority but also increase the longevity of adults in the country.
He further indicated that to improve the health seeking behaviour of persons living in rural areas and to provide full insurance cover for every Ghanaian, the NHIS will go a step further to register persons in the earmarked communities unto the Scheme.
Pro Vice Chancellor of KNUST and leader of the delegation, Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo, stipulated that the screening will focus on the Asante Akyem Agogo District because of the high cases of non-communicable diseases recorded during preliminary health screening and research.
He added that the partnership, which will be extended nationwide, has come in time to safeguard the healthcare needs of these indigenes, connect them to qualified medical practitioners and provide them with Health Insurance cover from the NHIS.
Professor Owusu-Dabo reiterated that the partnership with the NHIS forms an integral part of the university’s objective to bridge the gap between services, research, and academia.
He pledged KNUST’s readiness to provide the NHIS with evidence-based data that will inform the Authority’s roadmap towards full absorption of preventive healthcare on the Scheme.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri