Bolgatanga, March 11, GNA- A three-day training workshop for 54 Revenue Collectors and members of a Task Force of the District Health Insurance Scheme in the Bolgatanga Municipality is underway at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.

The workshop is sponsored by Partners in Health Reform Plus (PHRs), an international Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) operating in Ghana. Participants would be taken through the listing of houses and the mode of collection of revenue under the District-wide Mutual Health Insurance Scheme.

The Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Rockson Bukari, said government is determined to address problems associated with the existing "Cash and Carry" system and to replace it with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He said the new scheme would provide access to health care delivery for all without the sick paying before getting treatment. He therefore urged the participants to demonstrate their commitment and dedication to the work after the training, so that by the end of June this year, greater part of the population in the district would have registered with the scheme.

Mr. Bukari said the Assembly is providing office accommodation for the secretariat of the scheme and that qualified personnel would soon be recruited to man the secretariat.

He commended PHRS for sponsoring the workshop and expressed the hope that participants would at the end of the workshop reach out to majority of members in the communities.

The Upper East Regional Co-ordinator of PHRS, Mr. Joseph Sineka, who gave an overview of the workshop, told the participants not to concentrate only on the listing of houses and collection of revenue from contributors, but also to educate more of the people to register as members of the scheme.

He advised them to be neutral in the discharge of their duties and to avoid identifying themselves with some political parties since all contributors are Ghanaians and have the right to belong to any political party.