Health News of Tuesday, 31 July 2007

Source: GNA

NHIS has come to stay - DCE

Koikrom (Ash), July 31, GNA- Dr Lord Justice Gyamfi-Fenteng, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Asante-Akim South, has stated that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) would go into history as one of the most laudable legacies of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.

He said the scheme since its introduction had been of tremendous benefit to society especially the poor, irrespective of the initial challenges as well as smear campaigns by some individuals to undermine it.

The DCE charged Ghanaians to endeavour to join the scheme to promote affordable and accessible health care delivery, adding that the scheme had come to stay.

Dr Gyamfi-Fenteng made these remarks in an interaction with the chiefs and people of Koikrom near Obogu as part of his working visit to the area.

The DCE later spent over an hour sensitising the people on the need to register with the scheme since the patronage of it was very low in the community.

He entreated them to prioritise their health needs in their own interest since productivity thrived on good health. Dr Gyamfi-Fenteng noted that chiefs were major players in the local government system and challenged them to take the initiative to encourage their subjects to embrace such national policies. Nana Amoa-Koi, chief of the community, assured the DCE of his commitment to ensure the people registered in their numbers to enjoy the benefits of the scheme.

He, however, urged the DCE to pay the community regular visits to acquaint himself with the numerous challenges of the community.