Sekou pooh poohs Mahama's promise of free healthcare

Sekou Nkrumah, one of the sons of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, has lambasted the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over his promise to implement free primary health care for Ghanaians to get quality health care.

According to Sekou, Ghanaians are not deceived by John Dramani Mahama because as a Vice President and later President of the Republic of Ghana, the latter could not fix the very problems he is complaining of.

Sekou in a post on his Facebook timeline wrote: “John Mahama could not run the national health insurance scheme, and today he is talking of free primary health care? Does he think Ghanaians are fools?”

While addressing the people of Akatsi on his four-day campaign tour of the Volta Region, John Dramani Mahama stated that free primary health care “will remove costs as a barrier to health care and ensure health for all”.

He added, “despite the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), some gaps still remained in the delivery of universal healthcare in the country”.

Mahama, therefore, pledged to address those gaps with the introduction of Free Primary Healthcare to better improve health care delivery in the country when given the nod to lead again.

“This means [that] regardless of the validity or otherwise of one’s NHIS card, citizens can access health care at no cost at the district level.

“The free primary healthcare plan, which will be available to all patients in CHPS compounds, polyclinics, health centres and district hospitals, would ensure that the common illnesses afflicting Ghanaians were detected and treated early, before complications set in,” he stated.