Mr. Philippe Egger, Senior Economist, Decent Work Pilot Programme, says working conditions in Ghana should be improved to attain better economic growth.

He said the efficiency of a worker, depends on the health status and therefore recommended a better health care policy for workers.

And said a worker must also be well educated and trained. "There is a tremendous effect on the output of workers, if associations take into consideration the education of workers and above all quality health care of workers," he said.

Speaking on 7 March, at a workshop in Accra on "the role of Small Business Associations in promoting Alternative Health Insurance, in Ghana," he said from the perspective of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), South Korea that was of the same standard in terms of economical development some years back, is much more productive than Ghana now because workers there live under a better health insurance scheme and are well trained and educated.

The workshop was attended by about 60 participants drawn from micro and small enterprises across the country. It highlighted the potential role of small business associations in facilitating access to health insurance for their members and also aimed at increasing understanding among health insurance schemes of the particular needs and problems of small entrepreneurs.

It was organised by the Small Enterprise Development Programme (SEED) of ILO in collaboration with FIT Ghana and other local agencies Mr. Phillippe Egger said Ghana has qualified experts that can put together modalities to suit both the formal and informal sectors of a viable health insurance scheme to facilitate the health care of Ghanaians.

Dr. Samuel A. Akor, Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Health, said the informal sector constitutes about 70% of national population and is the most difficult to reach in the absence of a national identification system, thus setting back plans for a viable insurance for Ghanaians.

He said the government is developing a mechanism to abolish the cash and carry system "The current system of the cash and carry has not promoted utilization to the benefit of the country, although it has helped in generating revenue for financing health care...

Any prepaid mechanism put in place to finance health care is a better alternative to the cash and carry system in that it is a more humane way by which we all can contribute towards affordable care for ourselves." Dr. Akor said.

He said policy and legal framework to guide the development of health insurance in all parts of the country has been drawn up.