The Eastern Regional Directorate of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) says the biometric registration of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) clients started in the region on Wednesday.

The project was started in four districts including New Juaben, Yilo Krobo, Lower Manya Krobo and Asuogyaman districts.

In an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr. Perry Nelson, Director of Management Information Systems of the NHIA explained that, the new system is being adopted to clean the data base of the scheme to ensure that each person could register only once, easily be identified and also to issue registration cards instantly at the point of registration.

The new system is also to help authenticate subscribers at health care centres and to link subscribers’ attendance to facilities with subsequent claims generated for the subscribers.

Mr. Daniel Kofi Alorgboy, Regional Public Relations Officer of NHIA, said priority would be given to pregnant women, the aged, children under five and the physically challenged.

He said the new biometric registration cards could be used to access health service one month after registration and that people whose cards had not expired could continue to use their old cards till their expiration.

Mr. Alorgboy said members of the scheme would pay GHc16 for renewal and new registration and Social Security and National Insurance Trust contributors would pay GHc4.

When the GNA visited the New Juaben, Yilo Krobo, Lower Manya and Asuogyaman District Offices of NHIA, people had started the biometric registration with some in a queue.

However, at the Lower Manya and Asuogyaman Districts, the registration process was slow because the registration officers had problems with the biometric registration device.

The Lower Manya Krobo District Manager of NHIA, Mr. Andrews N. Donkor, said a canopy would be erected on the ground floor for the registration of the physically challenged since the NHIA office is a storey building.