Dr Anarfi Asamoa-Baah (2nd from right), Chairman of the committee on Preventive and Promotive Health Intervention, addressing the meeting. With him include Dr Da-Costa Aboagye (right), Chief Executive Officer of NHIA, and Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye (2nd from left), Director-General, GHS

Stakeholders must support NHIA preventive, promotive health delivery — Dr Aboagye

Donald Ato Dapatem May - 27 - 2024 , 09:05

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Authority (NHIA), Dr Da-Costa Aboagye, has urged stakeholders in the health sector to support the authority’s new paradigm shift of introducing Preventive and Promotive Health interventions.

That, he explained, was expected to generate a positive impact on Ghana's healthcare system and reduce NHIA claims payments in the long run. Dr Aboagye was speaking at an exploratory meeting with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), and the Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana (PHAFoG).

The meeting was aimed at jointly driving preventive and promotive health initiatives in alignment with Ghana’s Universal Health Coverage roadmap. The collaborative programme marks a significant step towards enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the NHIS in improving equitable access to comprehensive quality health services for Ghanaians.

The initiative, aimed at shifting focus from curative care to preventive and promotive health, recognises that prevention is better than cure.

Wellness

The Director-General of GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said the GHS had initiated the setting up of Wellness Clinics across the country in 2020 to facilitate preventive health checks of the population, therefore, the NHIA’s shift towards preventive and promotive health was crucial for sustainable health care.

“We are proud to partner the NHIA and other health provision entities in this transformative journey and are confident that these initiatives will bring lasting benefits to our communities,” he added.

The Executive Director of CHAG, Dr Peter Yeboah, emphasised the importance of the collaboration, adding that being an advocate of compassionate healthcare service, the association welcomed the proposition as a game-changer for the health and well-being of all people living in Ghana.

Genuine

He noted that with genuine commitments and an effective NHIA partnership, the special programme could promote economy, efficiency, accountability and responsiveness in the way they design and deliver impactful health services for the people.

The Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana, represented by its General Secretary, Richard Frank-Torblu, also expressed enthusiasm at the move and highlighted the role of innovation and private-public partnerships in advancing healthcare goals.

The GHS, the central public health provision agency in Ghana, has over 8,000 facilities CHAG, which represents over 300 health facilities, and several private health facilities, focused on the exploratory discussions around standard service packages.

It is also focused on resource allocation, community outreach activities, and rollout modalities, among others, towards the effective operationalisation of the initiative.