Kumasi, Aug 5, GNA - The VAT Service on Thursday advised traders and service providers to avoid taking undue advantage of the introduction of the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) to arbitrarily increase prices of goods and services. Mr Samuel Kofi Otabil, Ashanti Regional Head of the VAT Service, said the introduction of the levy should be seen as an opportunity to secure a better health care delivery in the country. He was speaking at forum organised by the VAT Service for public and civil servants in the Kumasi metropolis to educate the participants on the NHIL.

Mr Otabil appealed to traders and the general public to co-operate with the VAT Service to ensure the successful collection of the levy. Dr (Mrs) Agatha Akua Bonney, Kumasi Metro Director of Health Services, said the Ghana Health Service had embarked on a campaign to educate health workers on their role in the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). She said the NHIS was the safest alternative health care financing scheme in the country and urged the participants to educate their colleagues about it.