More women on NHIS in Ghana than men - Health survey report
The percentage of women in Ghana who are covered by health insurance is higher than that of men,the 2022 Ghana Demographic
and Health Survey (GDHS) Report has revealed.
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It indicated that from 40 per cent reported for women in the 2008 report, health insurance coverage for women in the current 2022 report was 90 per cent.
For men, whereas the 2008 report indicated that 30 per cent of them were covered by health insurance, that of the 2022 GDHS report said 73 per cent had health insurance.
A Senior Manager, Research,at the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA),Mariam Musah,who disclosed this at the second dissemination of the 2022 GDHS Report on HIV and AIDS and Health Insurance in Accra last Tuesday, said the trend in health insurance coverage,over the years, showed that there had been a significant improvement in health insurance coverage for both men and
women.
Mariam Musah, Senior Manager Research, National Health Insurance Authority, delivering a presentation on Health Insurance at the Wesley tower, Accra
Demographic and Health Survey
The GDHS is a population-level survey designed to monitor and assess progress in the utilisation and management of healthcare services.Its
main goal is to furnish policy makers and planners with crucial information to facilitate well-informed decisionmaking within the various units in the healthcare sector.
The 2022 GDHS data was obtained from a nationally representative sample of 18,540 households distributed across all 16 administrative
regions and 261 districts of the country.
The survey conducted interviews with 17,933 households; 15,014 women, aged 15 to 49,and 7,044 men,aged 15 to 59.
The survey covered a broad spectrum,including household interviews, assessments of individual women’s reproductive choices and
experiences,including attitude towards wife beating,as well as health measurements and testing for children of different age groups.
Health Insurance Coverage
Providing further details about health insurance coverage between men and women,she said the report showed that for men,the coverage
peaked within the 15 and 19-year-old group and then declined till it picked up again in the 45 to 49-year-old group.
For women,she said,health insurance coverage started slowly and then peaked between the 20 and 40
years old group and then declined from 55 years going.
“When you look at the regional disaggregation among women,Upper East Region has a higher health insurance coverage above the national average while Central Region is performing below the national average.
Among men, North East Region is performing higher than the national average while Central Region is doing lower than the national average. So we have to find out what is happening in the Central Region,” she pointed out.
On how wealth relates to health insurance coverage,Ms Musah said the report indicated that insurance coverage increased with an increase in wealth, explaining that it meant people who had money were more likely to have health insurance.
Touching on the utilisation of health insurance,for men,it peaked for those between the 45 and 49 years group while for the women, it peaked for those in the 25 and 29 years age group.
For utilisation of health insurance, using the NHIA Card,she said among women,the coverage was 32 per cent as compared to men,who had 23 per cent.
On which region was using more healthcare services,Ms Musah said from the report,Upper East Region was doing higher than the national
average,while the Northern Region was performing way below the national average.
Ms Musah said the report also sought to find out from the respondents interviewed whether they made out-of-pocket payment for a list
of services such as consultation, drugs, diagnosis,admission,among others, which are normally covered by the NHIA and from the report, it indicated that women were more likely to make out-of-pocket payment than men.
“Again,it will be interesting to find out why women are making more outof-pocket payments – is it because they have a wider utilisation? These are questions we need to further investigate. Unfortunately, the GDHS report doesn’t provide the reasons behind some of these figures. So,it will be good for us to delve deeper to find out the reasons behind these numbers,” she said.
On people making out-of-pocket payments for healthcare services covered by NHIA, she said, it was something that the NHIA was very much aware of and was taking concrete steps to address.
She said the NHIA had instituted an out-of-pocket committee at the national, regional and district levels to deal with such issues when reported to them.
When it was established,upon investigation,that indeed an out-of pocket payment had been made, she said they would take steps to retrieve that money for the person involved and even go further to sanction the provider.
Remarks
The Deputy Government Statistician of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS),Dr Faustina Frempong Danquah, expressed gratitude to all partners including the World Bank, KOICE, UNFPA, UNICEF and the Global Fund for financial support to enable the GSS to conduct the survey.
The UNAIDS Country Director to Ghana, Hector Sucilla Perez, encouraged government and its different stakeholders to look for sustainability of HIV strategic information initiatives to guide the national efforts and also for sustainability of education,health
promotion and preventive efforts targeted at the different populations to achieve the ultimate elimination of AIDS in Ghana by 2030.
In a remark on a presentation on HIV and AIDS, the Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Dr Kyeremeh Atuahene, said the country was doing well in anti retroviral treatment although it had not achieved the target that it had set for the year 2025.
