Gomoa appeals for more grants for Health Insurance Scheme

Apam (C/R), Feb. 25, GNA - A working group of the Gomoa District Health Insurance Scheme has appealed to the government to increase the 100 million cedis grant allocated to the district as its seed money for the scheme.

The group said figures released by the government indicated that whilst Gomoa was allocated 100 million cedis, other districts received between 250 million cedis to 600 million cedis for the same purpose. It said though the government did not disclosed the criteria used for the allotment it believed it was based on population and landmark. The group said currently, Gomoa is the largest district but poorest in the Central Region with a population of about 207,000. The group therefore said it found it difficult to understand why the least grant should be given to the poorest district with the largest population and landmass.

It said the argument by some people that the district received 41.4 million cedis assistance from DANIDA for setting up a pilot scheme in 20 selected communities was untenable since Gomoa was made up of 200 communities.

The group said although the grant allocated to the district was woefully inadequate, no provision was made for some vital areas. It said Gomoa received nothing for coding of streets and houses but communities, which received 250 million cedis and 600 million cedis got 10 million cedis and 30 million cedis respectively for that purpose. The group therefore appealed to the government to correct the anomaly to enable the work to be completed without any hitch.