Ghana working towards achieving global health coverage — MoH
The Ministry of Health (MoH) is collaborating with all stakeholders to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by the year 2030.
The ministry gave the assurance at a public forum where stakeholders bemoaned the slow pace of delivering the 2030 global UHC agenda.
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Speaking at the forum in Accra, a policy analyst of MoH, Lucas Annan said that the progress of delivery had been slow.
He, however, gave the assurance that efforts were being made at accelerating the process, including re-strategising as a ministry.
Forum
The forum was organised by Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) and aimed at finding more pragmatic ways of accelerating the delivery of the UHC.
The forum brought together stakeholders from the MoH, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and some civil society organisations (CSOs) to emphasise the importance of ensuring people have access to healthcare and utilise the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) without suffering financial hardships.
Mr Annan said as part of the re-strategising, the government had introduced two broad policy road maps aimed at accelerating the process.
He mentioned the policies as the National Health Policy 2020 and the Universal Health Coverage roadmap (UHC) 2020 to 2030.
Providing more information on the ministry’s mandate to deliver universal health coverage, he said UHC road map was the operationalisation of the National Health Policy.
Mr Annan explained that the policy framework was targeted at improving the physical environment, the socio-economic status of the population and ensure sustainable financing for healthcare in the country.
Healthy life
In order to attain the intended healthy life status of the people in the country, the MOH policy would also ensure that Metropolitan, minicpal and district assemblies and other identifiable organisations worked within the concepts of the Health-in-All Policy and the One-Health Policy frameworks.
He encouraged the adoption of healthy lifestyles and strengthening the healthcare system in order to be resilient.
NHIA
A Deputy Director in charge of Research and Monitoring at the NHIA, Abass Suleman, said the NHIA had targeted that by 2030, at least 80 per cent of Ghanaians should be enrolled on the NHIS.
He added that the NHIA had put measures in place to reduce the waiting period from six months to one month in order for Ghanaians to renew all expired Identity Cards within one month.
He, therefore, urged all Ghanaians to enrol on the NHIS
Political will
A Communications Consult of Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), Archibald Adams, called on the government to increase its political will towards the delivery of UHC.
