Ghana likely to attain universal health coverage before 2030 – NHIA

The
National
Health
Insurance
Authority
(NHIA)
has
projected
that
Ghana
will
attain
universal
health
coverage
before
2030.

According
to
the
Chief
Executive
of
the
NHIA
Dr
Da-Costa
Aboagye,
the
innovative
and
robust
measures
being
implemented
under
his
watch
include
the
new
preventive
health
care
measure
which
will
soon
become
part
of
the
NHIS
claim
package
that
will
allow
every
Ghanaian
on
the
scheme
to
visit
the
hospital
for
medical
check
up
on
their
birthdays.

Dr
Aboagye
who
spoke
to
the
media
in
Koforidua
on
Monday
said
the
move
is
to
reduce
the
cost
burden
on
clients
and
the
country.

“To
achieve
universal
health
coverage,
you
see
there
are
things
you
need
to
do.
So
far,
over
our
20-year
history,
the
NHIS
20
years
history,
it
has
been
curative.
So
curative
means
that
you
get
sick
before
you
go
to
the
hospital.
But
we
believe
that
with
the
rise
of
the
noncommunicable
diseases,
hypertension
for
example,
hypertension
contributes
a
lot
of
our
claims,
diabetes.”

“So
we
want
to
reduce
the
cost
burden
of
the
curative
services.
By
doing
that,
you
introduce
what
we
call
a
preventive
approach,
so
annual
health
check
for
every
Ghanaian.
So
you
detect
the
diseases
early.
Not
only
that,
you
also
make
sure
by
doing
that,
you
increase
life
expectancy
and,
you
reduce
the
cost
burden
on
the
patient
in
the
whole
country.”

“The
modalities
are
being
worked
out,
and
I’m
sure
very
soon,
preventive
health
care
will
become
part
of
our
claim
benefit
package
in
such
a
way
that
on
your
month
of
birth,
you’ll
get
a
notification
from
the
NHIA
that
goes
to
the
nearest
health
facility
and
check
your
basic
vitals.
The
vitals,
obviously,
your
sugar
levels,
your,
BP,
your
body
weight,
and
all
those
things
will
be
included…Reforms
are
taking
place,
and
I’m
hoping
that
it
will
all
come
to
the
benefit
of
all
Ghanaians,”
he
stated.

Dr
Da-Costa
Aboagye
who
expressed
worry
about
co-payment
at
various
health
facilities
says
the
issue
needs
to
be
addressed
head-on.

“Co-payments
are
a
big
issue,
and
we
need
to
address
it
head-on.
We
need
to
address
it
by
our
systems,
and
we
also
need
to
address
it
from
the
provider’s
point
of
view.
Now
if
you
look
at
our
systems,
okay,
the
government
e-pharmacy
platform
offers
us
the
best
solution
out
of
this
co-payment.

“Because
now
when
you
go
to
the
hospital
facilities,
they
tell
you
that
some
of
the
medicines
are
not
there.
But
it’s
very
difficult
for
our
clients
to
understand
the
packages
we
provide
in
terms
of
the
medicines
because
they
are
not
experts.”

“So
by
this,
what
we
are
doing
is
we
put
the
responsibility
on
the
pharmacies
to
make
sure
that
they
upload
their
prescriptions
on
the
e-pharmacy
platforms
because
of
the
property
addressing
system.
So
it
can
be
delivered
to
their
local
pharmacies
or
the
patients
can
go
to
the
various,
local
pharmacies
and
collect
it.

“So
once
we
also
review
the
tariffs
and
give
the
pharma
companies
and
the
facilities
the
accurate
tariffs,
we
will
seek
parliamentary
approval
for
what
we
call
the
automatic
price
adjustment
so
that
we
have
what
we
call
the
national
tariff
review
committee
that
will
look
at
the
economic
conditions
and
review
the
tariffs
as
we
go
along.”

“In
this
case,
we
from
the
NHIS
will
be
fulfilling
our
part,
and
we
will
now
put
the
burden
on
the
facilities
to
fulfil
their
part.
Then
we
use
the
systems
to
check
in
terms
of
the
e-pharmacy
platform
to
make
sure
that
patients
are
not
being
charged
for
the
services
that
are
being
paid
for
by
the
NHIS,”
he
stated.




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