The captain of the Black Stars, Stephen Appiah, has paid for the health insurance of 100 people at the Ablekuma Sub-metro Mutual Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) in Accra. The beneficiaries reside in Chorkor, a fishing community where Appiah grew up. Appiah picked up the bill in full, paying the registration fee of GH ¢12 to sponsor each person for one year. The beneficiaries will receive their insurance cards within a week, as compared to the one to three months it usually takes. Appiah chose to sponsor 100 people because, "for me to be successful as a sportsman, I need to be healthy both physically and mentally, and so should everyone in different jobs, for a healthy Ghana," he said. "For our country to grow, we all need to stay healthy in order to contribute to its development," he stated. Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Council (NHIC), Ras Boateng, said that Appiah had stepped up as the first person to respond to the council’s call for representation. "This is a national cause. For celebrities like him to endorse it and believe in it in keeping with the whole drive in making health care affordable to all," Mr. Boateng said. In addition to sponsoring 100 people, Appiah has also agreed to serve as an ambassador for Ghanaian health care, which Boateng said is even more important to the council. Appiah has set up a foundation called StepApp, and he plans on increasing the number of people registered for the NHIS throughout the year. "I feel I am now in a position to give something back to the community and continue into other rural areas," Appiah told the crowd awaiting registration. His foundation will also aid the youth. He said: "I will try and pay periodic visits, whenever I am in Ghana, to mentor and encourage them to (step up), adapt healthy lifestyles and pursue their dreams. If I have made it from Chorkor, then everyone else can." During the registration, Mr Boateng thanked Appiah for his demonstration of patriotism. The NHIS was implemented nationwide in 2005. Since then, Boateng said that more than 50 per cent of the population has been registered. "Look around the globe. I don’t think that there is any country that has done that in just two years," Boateng said, but added that the council wants that percentage to increase and is committed to developing new strategies for success. So far this year, more than 110,000 people have been registered. By the end of the year, the council hopes that 60 per cent of the population holds insurance cards. Credit: GFA