The Hohoe District Health Insurance Scheme has paid a total of ¢1.8 billion as claims to accredited health facilities between November 2005 and December 2006. Mr Lawrence Sakada, the Scheme Manager, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that shortage of essential drugs remained a stumbling block to the smooth implementation of the scheme. He said long incubation periods to replenish stock and sometimes unavailability of essential drugs created scarcities, compelling health workers to prescribe drugs outside the Standard Treatment Guideline lists. Mr Sakada said the situation was affecting customer interest in the scheme and appealed to stakeholders to play their roles to guarantee quality assurance and services. He said low staff strength and poor conditions of service were negatively affecting morale. Mr Sakada suggested that the National Health Insurance Council should adopt a clearing agency to remove all bureaucracies to enable the various schemes to reimburse one another. Mr Sakada said issues of funding, means of transport and the expansion of the drug list should be addressed with dispatch. He said it is estimated that 12,000 eligible identity card bearers were accessing health-care delivery in the district. Mr Sakada said eligible beneficiaries rose to 42,705 in 2006 from the previous 25,321 figure in 2005. A total of ¢705 million was collected as premium from the informal sector, a rise from the 123 million cedis realized in 2005. Source GNA