Accra, June 08, GNA - Two million out of the eight million Ghanaians registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) have not benefited from the Scheme due to delays in the issuing of identity cards{IDs).

The National Health Insurance Council (NHIC) has therefore instructed the Scheme Managers across the country to issue the IDs on time to forestall delays that deprived beneficiaries access to the Scheme. Speaking at mass NHIS registration programme for over 300 physically disabled persons in Accra, Mr Osei Boateng Acheampong, Operations Director of the Council, said delays in the issuance of the cards remained the utmost challenge for the smooth implementation of the Scheme.

He said the ID cards would however be ready before their validity period and the authentication would be left with health institutions for delivery.

"This does not mean that beneficiaries can access the scheme before their cards were valid, because the Council would not pay any such claims to the hospitals". Mr. Boateng expressed the hope that the support would enable the disabled to have access to health care, since health delivery was the right of all.

Mr Francis Adjetey Sowah, Executive Director of the Disabled Christian Fellowship International, a non-governmental organisation said persons with disabilities often encountered challenges in accessing quality health care due to ignorance and financial difficulties. He said health institutions in the country were not disabled friendly, adding that, deaf persons experienced communication barriers.

He stated that, the absence of sign language interpreters in health institutions made it difficult for the deaf to communicate their problems to health professionals. Mr Sowah also expressed regret about the negative attitude of some health workers towards such persons, adding that the District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme had also failed to cover the provision of certain devices to assist them to communicate. "We sincerely wish to crave the indulgence of Government and other stakeholders to set up a special fund to enable persons with disabilities to access assertive devices", he added. The Executive Director also called for the formulation of policies that would mandate for periodic screening of children to detect, prevent and manage disability earlier in their lives.