Audio By Carbonatix
The Ghana Universal Access to HealthCare Campaign through the Upper West branch of the Ghana Coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in health has noted with concern the World Bank suggestion of cost sharing as a means of bringing financial sustainability to the National Health Insurance Scheme.
It is their believe that the recommendation is not the way to go and thus wants government and all Ghanaians to reject the World Bank recommendation.
In the report which was published in January, 2012 and titled ‘‘Health Financing in Ghana at a crossroads’’, the World Bank argues that the NHIS Basic Benefit Package (BBP) is financially unsustainable and asks the government to consider cost sharing if it is to continue providing the comprehensive Basic Benefit Package (BBP).
The report further recommends the use of co-payments for some covered services and sections of the population (who are able to pay) as a strategy for increasing NHIS revenue and directing utilization towards more cost effective services. However the report fell short of mentioning which of the services and medicines should attract co-payments.
In the said report, the World Bank expressed dissatisfaction about the fact that, the NHIS is highly subsidized and about 46% of the 65% of registered members of the scheme, who are exempted from premium payment, belong to high income groups and could be drawn in to pay premium.
However in a swift rebuttal to the recommendations, the Upper West branch chairman of the Ghana coalition of NGOs in health, in a statement signed by Abu Dokuwie, said that it is wrong for the World Bank to say that government should not increase its financial allocation to the health sector because it claims the economy is fragile.
They added that with the revenue from the oil and the other sectors, the economy has a great potential to grow. The campaign rather thinks government should increase its financial allocation to the health sector to improve the health outcomes of Ghanaians, particularly the high maternal deaths.
The campaign agreed that the NHIS is highly subsidized but was quick to add that is the only way to go ‘‘because even in the current state of affairs, majority of the poor are unable to afford the premiums. Secondly it is the best step towards universal health care in Ghana’’.
The campaign stated that they are curious to know if the World Bank wants the country to reduce its expenditure on health care when the above issues indicated a grim situation on population, health and financial protection.
They urged the government to remain focus and ensure that more resources are injected in to the health sector in the areas of motivating the sector’s human resource , improving accessibility to quality health care, provision if modern health facilities, improving the structures at the NHIS and ultimately work towards making health care free at the point of delivery.
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