Kyebi (E/R), Dec 16, GNA - The East Akim District Assembly says it will ensure that its staff who contribute to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and their families were registered with the District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme by early next year. This was contained in a speech read on behalf of the District Chief Executive, Mr Emmanuel Victor Asihene at the first Annual General Meeting of the East Akim District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme at Kyebi on Friday.

He also appealed to all heads of department under the Assembly to ensure that all members of their staff and their families also registered with the District Health Insurance Scheme. Mr Asihene explained that such a measure would help to get about 60 per cent of the population of the District registered with the scheme by March 2007.

He said currently, the Assembly was constructing a 500 million-cedi office complex for the District Mutual Health Insurance Secretariat. Mr Asihene described the National Health Insurance Scheme as a legacy that the Government of the New Patriotic Party would be leaving for the people of Ghana.

The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Ms Susana Mensah, appealed to the Regional Directorate of Health Services to organize training programmes for the records staffs of the hospitals on how to maintain good human relation with holders of the health insurance registration cards.

She also urged the health authorities to educate the records staff at the hospitals to do away with reported deliberate delays in tracing of record cards of patients holding the insurance cards. Ms Mensah appealed to managers of Mutual Health Insurance Schemes in the region to work fast on their returns and send them to Accra early to enable the Health Insurance Councils to pay the service providers on time.

This will help to reduce the pressure on the hospitals caused by the delays in the payment for their services. The Eastern Regional Director of Health Service, Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyirah, appealed to religious organizations and benevolent societies to organize schemes to support their members who could not afford the premiums to enable them pay and benefit from the health insurance schemes.

He announced that next year, the region would organize a mass health screening exercise for various diseases as a way of creating a healthy society to help save the National Health Insurance Programme. In a welcoming address, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr John Asare Nyankumah said out of a population of 112,000, the scheme registered 21,234 and urged the premium collectors to put in more efforts. He urged the premium collectors to make early payments so that the secretariat could promptly take the photographs of new applicants who had paid their premium to enable them get their registration cards early. 16 Dec. 06