Underprivileged persons in Adaklu-Anyigbe to be put on NHIS
A plan put in place by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) two years ago to enroll extremely poor persons onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on a pilot basis is currently being implemented in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District in the Volta Region.
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The arrangement dubbed, ‘NHIS House-to-House Underprivileged Identification, has been piloted in nine districts across the country already.
The Volta regional aspect of the plan, which brings the pilot to a close, is estimated to register about 20,000 underprivileged persons in the Adaklu-Anyigbe District.
At the launch of the strategy, the Deputy Director of Membership and Regional Operation of the NHIA, Mr Collins Akuamoah, said statistics showed that 3.4 per cent of the population was very poor and could not register with the NHIA.
He said in order for the country to attain universal health coverage, there was the need to remove barriers that hindered poor people from enrolling onto NHIS.
Collaboration
Mr Akuamoah said it was to avoid leaving the poor out of also accessing quality health care that the NHIA, in conjunction with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), with support from the Africa Health Markets for Equity (AHME), took the decision to embark on registering the underprivileged in 10 demonstration districts of the country free of charge onto the health scheme.
He said the NHIA and the ministry used scientific and objective means to determine which families and households qualified to be described as extremely poor to be registered onto the health scheme.
He urged members of the community to grab the opportunity that was being offered, saying: “This project has no political colour. It is a means to assist poor communities. We all have to support the process so that by the end of April when the pilot comes to a close, we will get the estimated number of persons required.”
Last beneficiary location
In showing gratitude for being selected to be part of the pilot process, the District Coordinating Director for Adaklu-Anyigbe, Mr David Kwei Kanyi, said it was refreshing to note that the Adaklu-Anyigbe District was the last to be tackled under the pilot registration plan.
He said many people in Adaklu and Agotime were willing to register with the NHIS; but unfortunately, they did not have the means.
Mr Kanyi said the intervention was a great opportunity for poor people in the district to have access to quality health care.
“What is happening is a landmark event for the whole of the Adaklu and Agotime Ziope districts. This approach will bring about significant improvements in the health of our people.”
The Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the MoGCSP, Mr Mawutor Ablo, said all beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme would also be registered onto the health scheme.