NDC can be dangerous to your health - Akuffo-Addo

The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, says if Ghanaians do not want to fall sick within the next four years, then it is incumbent on them to vote the National Democratic Congress (NDC) out of power since the ruling party has already warned that they can be dangerous to the health of the electorate.

According to the NPP flagbearer, one can safely conclude upon a careful appraisal of the performance of the NDC at managing the National Health Insurance Scheme in the last four years, that “either they (NDC) do not really believe” in the scheme and “their advocacy of a one-time premium reinforces this perception; or they lack the competence to administer it”.

He has therefore asked the electorate to vote for the NPP since the country cannot afford to go back to a “failed government that is failing you, failing your health, failing your jobs, failing your education, failing your future.”

In a comprehensive outline of the party’s health policy in a speech he delivered on the topic “Saving our Health Service, Keeping our People Healthy” at the Sunyani Nurses Training College, Nana Addo accused the NDC government of creating so much instability in the scheme leading to a wane in confidence. According to him, there is a “decline in membership in the NHIS and a corresponding increase in visits to the hospital by NHIS cardholders and cited the Authority’s own annual reports which indicate that active membership dropped from 9,914,256 at the end of December, 2008, to 8,204,116 by the end of 2011, to buttress his point.

“As is their usual practice, they think they can use propaganda to cover their failure in the health sector as well. Unfortunately for the NDC, the human body cannot be lied to. The government would have us believe that there is a significant increase in usage of the NHIS, which they offer as proof of their commitment to widening access to healthcare....The NHIA’s own annual reports indicate that active membership dropped from 9,914,256 at the end of December, 2008, to 8,204,116 by the end of 2011 and according to the NDC Manifesto, there have been 25 million visits to hospitals by NHIS cardholders in the past year. This means that we have a decline in membership and a corresponding rapid increase in visits to hospital by NHIS cardholders. There is something quite unnatural about this and the only explanation there can be is that we are getting sicker than before,” he said.

The most worrying aspect of loss of confidence is the decline in renewal rates of membership in the scheme, the NPP leader added.

“I suspect that many people were holding out on their renewal as they waited for the NDC promise of a one-time premium payment to materialise. If the consequences of this farcical NDC promise were not so tragic, it would be a source of great joy. Four years down the road they have not been able to implement their one-time premium policy. We can only assume that it was made to deceive Ghanaians just to get their votes,” he said.

In a detailed assessment of the country’s current health scheme, Nana Addo claimed the ruling party was forcing to introduce through the “back door” the Cash & Carry payment system. He stated that instead of the NDC quietly withdrawing the introduction of the capitation method of payment, the ruling party rather intends to spread the ills of that mode of payment to every corner of the country if re-elected into office.

“Most health institutions in the Ashanti Region have been forced to introduce what is called a Co-Payment -- or to call it by its real name, Cash & Carry -- through the back door....The NDC Manifesto calls for the expansion of capitation! Yes, you heard right. At page 23 of their 2012 Manifesto, they are threatening to bring it back in a big way. It reads “In the next four years, the NDC government will… roll out capitation nationwide.” Yes, that is what the NDC is promising....Call it a timely warning because we cannot claim we have not been warned. The ruling party is sending out a clear message to the Ghanaian voter: ‘The NDC Can Be Dangerous to Your Health’. Vote for NDC and pray you don’t fall sick for another 4 years....this is too high a risk to take, if you ask me,” he added.

The NPP flagbearer, who spent time to elaborate on how the NPP will go about revamping the health sector and the NHIS, further posited that the scheme, to all intents and purposes, is bankrupt claiming that the NHIS is now a “net borrower”.

“In 2008, under the NPP, the NHIS was a net lender to Ghanaian banks. Now, it is a net borrower; and as at December 31, 2011, the scheme owed the banks GHC105 million,” he said.