Three million Ghanaians who registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme which took off two and a half years ago are yet to receive their identification cards. The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Council, Ras Boateng attributed the problem to the fact that some agents who were contracted during the exercise did not arrange the registration forms in any orderly manner, a situation which had made it difficult for the card owners to be identified. Mr Boateng said a team from the secretariat of the scheme had gone round the country to collect all cards which had not as yet been processed to a processing centre in Cape Coast for processing. As a result, he said, the council was to introduce new computerized ID cards to help solve the perennial problem with the delay in the issuance of the cards. In spite of the problem, however an impressive number of about eight million Ghanaians have been covered under the scheme. Figures available at the NHIC indicate that 7, 673,998 people had registered as of December 2006, with 4,11,696 having been issued with their ID cards. The total figure if registered members of the NHIS represents 38 per cent of the country’s estimated population of 20,425,239. According to records made available, the Brong Ahafo Region has the highest percentage of registered members. A total of 1,191,330 people have registered there, as against a population of 1,968,205, representing 61 per cent of the population. The Greater Accra Region has the lowest number of registered members. Out of a population of 3,576,312, only 688,737 have registered, representing 19 per cent of the total population of the region. Ashanti Region has 1,722,968 registered, representing 44 per cent of the Central Region has registered 749,769 out of a population of 1,687,31 also representing 44 per cent. In the case of the Eastern Region, 836,752 out of a population of 2,274,453 have registered, representing 37 per cent of the total population of the region. A total of 713,488 people have registered in the Western region, which has a population of 2,042,320 representing 35 per cent. In the Upper West, 166,151 out of a population of 561,866 have registered. The figure represents 30 per cent of the population. While a total of 304, 600 have so far registered in the Upper East Region with a population of 1,790,417 representing 40 per cent of the population, while the Volta Region has registered 587,649 out of a population of 1,636, 462, representing 36 per cent. Mr Boateng showed a sample of the proposed ID card and said the council was going through procurement procedures and would acquire the necessary logistics for the exercise as soon as possible. He said most of the problems which affected the smooth implementation of the scheme were expected to be solved this year, adding that the council had recently received 30 vehicles for its operations and expected some computers and motor cycles for its offices nation wide. Source: Daily Graphic