A 17-member board for the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has been inaugurated.
The board, which was ushered into office by the Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, is chaired by Mr Emmanuel Ernest Kwesie, with members including Dr Victor Asare Bampoe, the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Sylvester Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA, Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira, Director-General, Ghana Health Service (GHS), and Mr Seth Ofori Ohene, a representative from NHIA.
Other members of the board
Others are Ms Rejoice Kasu, NHIA; Dr Dennis Bortelabi Bortey, Medical and Dental Association; Mr Anthony Selom Dzadzra, Ministry of Finance; Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey and William Affum Ani-Agyei both health professionals; Mr Eric Kwesi Armo-Himbson, Chief Director, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and Miss Lydia Lariba Bawa, Commissioner of Insurance.
The rest are Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, Organised Labour; Mrs Czarina Baeta Ribeiro, Pharmacist; Dr Darius Kofi Osei, SSNIT; Mrs Anna Pearl Akiwumi Siriboe, legal practitioner and Mr Arnold Okai, Accountancy and Finance professional.
Before asking them to take the oath of office and secrecy, Dr Agyemang-Mensah urged them to work diligently and selflessly to turn around the fortunes of NHIA, which, according to him, would translate into the improvement of health service delivery in the country.
Call to duty
He said the board was assuming office at a time when the health sector was going through financial challenges and, therefore, called on them to device innovative ways of mobilising financial resources to improve the performance of the sector.
Dr Agyemang-Mensah also called on them to join the Ministry of Health in educating the populace on personal hygiene as the country was confronted with cholera and an Ebola scare, saying that government was working at ensuring that the country was adequately prepared to manage any Ebola case.
The Director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Afisah Zakariah, in an address, told the board that the task ahead of them was herculean and urged them to give of their best.
The board chair, on behalf of the members, thanked the government for the confidence reposed in them.
He promised that they would do their best to ensure that the NHIA was put on the right footing.
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