Bolgatanga, July 15, GNA - The Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Joseph Amankwah, on Saturday appealed to the government to review the act establishing the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to enable a greater segment of distressed and disadvantaged groups, particularly HIV/AIDS patients, to have access to healthcare.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga at the weekend, Dr. Amankwah said the definition of "indigent" in the NHIS Act was strict and posed an obstacle in the way of extending assistance to persons living with HIV/AIDS who could not afford the 72,000 cedis premium to register with the scheme. "An indigent as implied in the Act covers only the poor, destitute and homeless who live on the streets, without any consideration for AIDS patients from very poor homes who are unable to even afford one proper meal a day."

He said for most of those patients the 50,000 cedis fee required for the administering of anti-retroviral drugs was a huge burden. Mr Amankwa said the number of AIDS treatment centres in the region had increased from one to three, namely Bolgatanga, Bawku and Navrongo hospitals and that his outfit had plans to establish three more centres at Bongo, Sandema and Zebilla in due course. "The intention is to enable as many HIV/AIDS patients in the region as possible to have access to anti-retroviral treatment but the question of affordability poses a threat to the attainment of this objective," Dr. Amankwah said. He mentioned the shortage of medical staff as a major hindrance to efficient and effective healthcare delivery in the region and said the doctor-patient ratio in most of the area's health facilities stood at 1:60,000.