I've fixed Kufuor's NHIS which Mahama 'ruined' – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo-Addo has said his government has fixed the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) introduced by the Kufuor administration which was “ruined” by the Mahama administration.

Speaking on Wednesday, 6 November 2019 at the official opening ceremony of the 100-bed Ga-East District Hospital, which is part of the Ghana Hospital Project initiated by the government of Ghana in 2008 and executed by EUROGET De-Invest S.A of Egypt, President Akufo-Addo said the NHIS, “which was left in ruins” by the erstwhile Mahama administration and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has been revived again by another NPP-led government, adding: “We have cleared the GH¢1.2 billion arrears we inherited and brought the operations of the NHIS back to life”.

“We have also launched the policy of mobile renewal of NHIS membership”, the President noted.

The Ga-East hospital is the second hospital opened so far by President Akufo-Addo under the Ghana Hospital Project following the 18 August 2019 opening of the Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa.

The President commended EUROGET for completing the hospital a month ahead of schedule, and urged them to do the same with the other projects in Tepa, Twifo Praso, Konongo, Salaga, Nsawkaw and Kumasi Sewua.

“This hospital has been long-awaited in Ga-East, and it is good that today, the demand for a district hospital of quality has been realised. Residents and surrounding health facilities in Ashongman, Dome, Haatso, Kwabenya and Madina will now gain access to improved healthcare from the Ga-East Hospital,” he said.

The Ghana Hospital Project involves the design, construction and equipping of one (1) Military Hospital, two (2) Regional Hospitals, and six (6) District Hospitals in Ghana, at a project cost of US$339 million, and will deliver eight hundred and ten (810) beds. It falls under the broader objective of providing infrastructure for the delivery of effective healthcare to the citizenry.

The Ga-East hospital is fitted with modern medical equipment, and designed with several departments including an administration block, out-patient department (OPD), physiotherapy unit, pharmacy, radiology unit, laboratory, surgical suite, emergency & casualty Unit, amongst others.

President Akufo-Addo, thus, reinforced the call to the administrators to embrace and strengthen the culture of maintenance.

“This edifice has been put at great cost to our nation, and we should be in the position, some ten years down the line, to see it still in good condition. It should not fall in the ways in which several institutions like this in Ghana have gone. The leadership of this facility must set the example for its periodic and constant maintenance,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians that his government is committed to improving access to essential and quality health services through the provision of the necessary health infrastructure, equipment and logistics, including the deployment of appropriate technology as part of our drive to attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

As part of the promise to procure one ambulance each for the 275 constituencies in Ghana, the President stated that Government has taken stock of the first batch of 9) ambulances, and, by the end of December, the rest will be in.

“We are delivering essential medical health products through the use of drones, and, just within the past five months of its operations, I am told over one thousand (1,000) flights have been made from the first site in Omenako, with over five thousand (5,000) products delivered,” President Akufo-Addo said.

He continued, “We are also leveraging the use of technology, with some of our healthcare facilities, before the end of the year, going paperless. We have deployed an electronic platform for logistics management information systems for the distribution of drug and non-drug commodities in the country.”