The Member of Parliament for Ketu South, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has called on the government to urgently expand the reach of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to cover sicknesses akin to elderly people in the country.

She explained that the authorities in the country should give close attention to the plights of the elderly, especially since ageing is an unavoidable phenomenon.

Speaking on the floor of parliament on Thursday, June 15, 2023, in commemoration of the 2023 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the Ketu South MP, who is also a former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, said that this is necessary because not many elderly people are able to work.

“Mr. Speaker, in 2020, a 90-year-old woman at Kafaba Salaga in the Savannah Region was lynched due to the accusation that she was a witch. Recently in May 2023, two individuals were lynched at the Mion district of the Northern Region on suspicion of practicing witchcraft. Sicknesses, the inability to have children, droughts, floods, fires etc. are all blamed on elderly women who are tagged with witchcraft.

“Mr. Speaker, ageing is an unavoidable phenomenon, we are all in that line; if not there already. We must get our duck in a row to enhance the protection of the growing number of elderlies in our communities. As an African proverb goes ‘A village without elders is like a well without water.’

“The inability of the aged over 60 years to be actively employed to earn an income can deplete their finances after a while. It is therefore important that the LEAP programme is designed to prioritize the older men and women because after the age of 60.

“Mr. Speaker, it is a fact that old age comes with many health implications. For this reason, the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service should consider widening the health insurance scheme to cover many illnesses especially those associated with old age,” she appealed.

Dzifa Gomashie further called for refresher training for health practitioners in the country so that they serve the special needs of the older population.

She added that this is important because there are many old people who die simply because their sicknesses were not professionally-treated.

“In addition, more health practitioners should be trained to offer services that are tailored to cater specially to older men and women in our societies. This will help reduce the mortality rates of the aged. Many aged people are dying from illnesses that could be treated with simple medical procedures and medications. This should not be the case,” she added.

Watch her speak on the floor of parliament on Thursday, June 15, 2023, below:



AE/WA