Senior Minister is asking the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana to help rid the National Health Insurance Scheme of fraud.

Yaw Osafo Maafo describes it as embarrassing corrupt practices, bedevilling the scheme.

He said at the opening session of the society’s Annual General Conference that health insurance is fraught with underhand dealings.

“There’s a lot of fraud associated with the handling of the National Health Insurance Scheme. It is so embarrassing when you look at the sources of these frauds,” he revealed.

According to him, the involvement of some pharmacists, patients and some doctors leave much to be desired.

“The relationship between pharmacy shops, patients, doctors in these claims is disturbing.”

He wants the Pharmaceutical Society to help device a mechanism that can help minimise fraud associated with procurement of drugs for the National Health Insurance Scheme.

As at March, this year, the National Health Insurance Scheme was reeling under a 1.2 billion Ghana cedis debt.

Service providers threatened to return to the dreaded ‘cash and carry’ system to the disadvantage of  over 11 million subscribers.

Delayed payment of claims payment is characterized by fraud, sometimes perpetrated with the connivance of some scheme officials.

Sanctions against persons involved in such fraudulent acts are said not to be deterrent enough.

National Health Insurance Authority Chief Executive, Dr. Samuel Yaw Annor, recently told the media that sentences for convicts cannot discourage people to stop cheating scheme.

Mr. Osafo Maafo says the pharmaceutical group could be decisive in overcoming the challenge.

“May I kindly appeal to the Pharmacy Society to help the National Health Insurance administration to device a system of minimising fraud in the procurement of drugs  etc because, fraud  in the administration of drugs associated with the National Health Insurance, is one of the major  headaches of the National Health Insurance,” the Senior Minister appealed.