THE Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kumbuor, has expressed concern over the spate of conflict of interest among some stakeholders and managers of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The development, he stated, was seriously affecting the smooth implementation of the scheme.
According to him, some managers of the scheme were using the initiative as a “fierce battle ground” for the achievement of their parochial interests, thereby defeating the purpose of the scheme.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on the NHIS in Tamale, Dr Kumbuor stressed that the government would no longer tolerate such practices since they impacted negatively on the nation’s quest for efficient and accessible healthcare delivery.
The meeting was aimed, among other objectives, at creating a platform for stakeholders to deliberate on issues affecting the implementation of the NHIS.
The minister observed that the scheme still faced a number of policy and operational management challenges.
He stressed that the government and the World Bank had set up an inter agency steering committee as a governing body of the National Health Insurance project to address key challenges that required technical assistance.
Dr Kumbuor further explained that the main objective of the National Health Insurance project was to help address financial and operational management issues affecting the NHIS.
According to him, the scheme’s project had three components, namely, policy development, information and communication technology (ICT) and management training.
The minister cautioned service providers against failing to fulfil their part of the bargain in the implementation of the scheme, stressing “the social credibility of the scheme will suffer if service providers did not act responsibly”.
“Lack of or limited access to healthcare services has contributed to recent stagnation in key health indicators such as maternal and child mortality”, he stated.
Dr Kumbuor, therefore, stressed the need to address all possible barriers of accessing quality healthcare by all people living in Ghana.
He stated that preparations for the implementation of the proposed one time premium payment by the beneficiaries of the scheme was almost completed, and expressed optimism that the initiative would be successful.
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester Mensah, called on stakeholders of the scheme to work as a team to help achieve the desired results.
According to him, authorities of the scheme would soon computerise its operations to inject some level of sanity and efficiency into the system.
He stated that the operations of the NHIS would be restructured to ensure accountability and efficiency in consonance with the objectives of the scheme.
Mr Mensah mentioned retraining of its staff and addressing the abuse in claims as some of the challenges that needed urgent attention.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina, expressed regret about the non-availability of the anti-snake bite drugs in some farming communities.
He wondered why the drug was not available in some health institutions and yet a few individuals sold it secretly.
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