Ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor says the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is ‘naturally’ suffering major setbacks because of the NDC’s lack of understanding in the operation of the programme.
The NHIS, an idea conceived by Kufuor during his campaign to be elected President, was passed into law in 2003 to abolish the ‘cash and carry’ system of healthcare delivery.
Speaking to Nana Aba Anamoah on ‘State of Affairs on GH One TV, he said, “before 2001, the policy in the country with regards to healthcare was called the ‘cash and carry’. It [the name] nearly portrayed the very smart mentality that Ghanaians have got sometimes wicked sense of humor – ‘Cash and Carry’ for healthcare? Meaning if you do not have money you die? That’s what it was. So we introduced the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“I know there’s a lot of debate, people wanting to deny us [NPP] the credit of doing it. Before we launched it, I believe it was the Catholic Church that had something in Nkoranza and somewhere around Damango.
“It was just a community service but they were [running] it successfully so our government got inspired by that and then we sent out some experts to other countries that seemed to be doing it in East Africa and there was a measure of it in Zimbabwe or so. We sent people to go and study and then come and advise. It was from that we formulated the policy and implemented it at an affordable premium.”
The NHIS policy is now suffering some operational challenges on the grounds which has plunged the scheme into some difficulty in various health facilities.
And the former President says the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), for a lack of understanding and vision, lost the plot on the sustenance of the policy by embarking on a massive promise of a one-time premium to win votes in the 2008 elections.
“Towards 2008, a party [NDC] suggested they [Ghanaians] will pay just one premium for life. How would you run an insurance policy on just a premium?” Kufuor quipped.
He added: “They [NDC] didn’t share in the vision nor did they even understand the mechanics of working the programme so naturally, there’s been a stalling or a near slump in the implementation of the Health Insurance Scheme.”
Kufuor believes the NHIS, which is one of Ghana’s biggest social intervention programmes will pick up under the right administration.
“It [the NHIS] is still at least, tottering along and we hope it will regather steam under the right leadership because it must come to stay and hopefully, Ghanaians will see the difference in the near future,” he told ‘State of Affairs’ Friday.
-starrfmonline