A lecturer at the Kumasi-campus of the University of Education, Winneba, Mr. Aaron Kumah is doubting the claim by the leader of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama on his promise of implementing ‘free primary health care’ should he win the December polls.
Former President John Dramani Mahama at Monday, July 27 at an unveiling ceremony of his running mate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) said before the end of 2021, if he is re-elected president in December, he will introduce and begin the implementation of a free primary healthcare plan which will be a “sacred social contract that will be honoured and not betrayed” as it “will make the provision of primary healthcare to all Ghanaians young and elderly free.”
But according to the UEW lecturer, the ex-President has no locus in making such a promise as his former administration witnessed the worst health care debt in Ghana’s fourth Republic under any government with almost all health service providers complaining and threatening to withdraw their services.
He continued that, with the NDC and Mahama doubting the full implementation of the ‘Free SHS program’ which covers over 1.2million Ghanaian students with their major reason being the cost factor, it will be illogical for anyone to take the former President serious on his free health care promise which will cover over 30million Ghanaians.
Mr. Aaron Kumah tasked the NDC’s flagbearr to do himself a favor and desist from making promises about health issues as a good a self-evaluation will inform him about what happened to his former ‘one time premium’ promise.
The UEW lecturer made the pronouncement on Kumasi-based Pure FM in an interview with Kwame Adinkrah monitored by MyNewsGh.com
“It is under the last four years of the NDC government that health service providers really complained in this country. Every single week, you will hear of the health service providers complain, if it’s not the pharmaceutical association, then it’s the mission hospitals, this continued till the end of his tenure amidst taking premium and NHIS benefits. You couldn’t use the premium and other VAT components to take care of primary health care then and you expect us to believe you now that you are going to make it free.”
“Even with health insurance benefits, you couldn’t manage the health sector well and now you expect us to hand over our health service to you to make primary health care free… I beg him, he should take that part out of his utterances and intentions… I beg him, he shouldn’t mention free primary health care ever again. They should come out to tell Ghanaians that they didn’t understand the primary health care well and so they have taken it out of their manifesto and they will come up with a new policy.
He could have said something like completing the health structures that he commenced and has been abandoned by the NPP administration but on primary health care, he can never convince us Ghanaians that he will make it free… If he doesn’t stop trumpeting the free primary health care agenda, I’m from now going to campaign that President Mahama is coming to collapse the health insurance scheme so we shouldn’t vote for him. He should stop talking [free] primary health care. This is a serious matter. It can’t happen. He can never do it. Ghanaians should not listen to him.”
Watch an excerpt of the interview in the video below.
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