Ketu South NHIS blocks registration of Togolese

The porous nature of Ghana’s border with Republic of Togo has compelled the Ketu South District management of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to adopt strategic measures to prevent Togolese from registering and benefiting from the scheme.

The Ketu South District Manager of the NHIS, Mr. Eric Kwame Afenyo, told The Chronicle at Denu that in some parts of the District, Togolese have their kitchen at Aflao and bedroom in Togo.

This development makes it cumbersome to identify who is a Ghanaian, since the Togolese, apart from the free access they have to Ghana, speak the Ewe Language and also bear the same name like the Ewes of Ghana.

Mr. Afenyo further told The Chronicle that since the NHIS is meant for Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians resident in Ghana, his outfit has to adopt measures to ensure that only those qualified to benefit from the Scheme are registered.

Among these measures is the insistence that the one to be registered produce baptismal certificate or voters ID cards.

The applicant is also asked very sensitive questions such as the name of the Assembly Member for the area mentioned in the District, Member of Parliament (MP) and any other opinion leader in the community.

The Ketu South District Manager of the NHIS pointed out that those who failed to present the relevant ID cards, as well as unable to mention the name of their Assembly Member, MP or any opinion leader is considered as a foreigner not resident in Ghana and would not be registered.

Mr. Afenyo continued that as at the end of September 2014, the scheme had a registered membership of 107, 611 as against the total membership of 72,000 in 2013, saying quarterly registration was being carried out to increase membership.

According to him, extra sub offices have been opened in the District at Blekusu, Kpoglo and Agbozume, where regularly registration exercise are carried out to complement registration activities at the main office at Denu.

Mr. Afenyo disclosed that the third quarter registration exercise carried out recorded 15,000 newly registered members, stressing that public education on the Scheme have been intensified particularly on the need for valid card holders to renew their cards on time.

According to him, there is a good relationship between the NHIS management and the various facilities in the District.

He revealed that the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Scheme and the Claims Manager had formed a task force dubbed “folder verification” to ensure that only people who attend hospitals are recorded.

Mr. Afenyo also revealed that his outfit had linked up with Senior High Schools (SHS) in the District to register students who do not have NHIS ID cards and to also renew those cards that have expired.

According to him, 600 students have so far been registered under the exercise. He said even though beneficiaries of the NHIS in the area have expressed satisfaction about the activities of the Scheme, management had lined up frequent outreach programmes that would enable the Scheme to achieve its set target.

The Ketu South District Manager of the NHIS further explained that pregnant women and children under the age of five have been registered and provided with instant ID cards, with the support of the ICT platform.

Mr. Afenyo assured the people in the District that the personnel were committed to serving them and asked the people to visit the NHIS offices for clarification on issues they did not understand.