News:
October 5, 2011
Nii Armah Ashietey, Greater Accra Regional Minister, has called on the public not to take issues relating to health as well as their health insurance for granted.
He said it was important to insure their lives and health care to be able to access quality health care when they fall sick.
Nii Ashietey who is also Member of Parliament for Klottey Korley, made the call when he organised a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) registration exercise for residents of Osu in Accra on Tuesday.
He explained that the exercise was part of a programme lined up for the people this year and the first phase took place early in the year.
Nii Ashietey said the exercise was to create awareness on the importance of registering with the scheme and was expected to cover 2,000 people in Osu and Adabraka.
He said it was in response to complaints received from the residents about their inability to afford high hospital bills, adding, “This is just to help the poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable who for financial difficulties cannot afford to register with the scheme in the constituency”.
Nii Ashietey cautioned the people to be careful about their lifestyles and desist from activities that would endanger their health, because Ghana needed all of them alive.
Mr Lawrence Amartey, Greater Accra Regional Manager of NHIS, assured the clients that their cards would be ready soon for them to access free health care.
He said the scheme now covered 50 per cent of people in the Region and expected to increase to 75 per cent by the end of the year.
Mr Amartey announced that two new offices under the scheme had been established at La and Ashiaman for easy access to registration and renewal in the Region.
GNA