Wa, (UW/R)-Ghana, July 14, GNA – Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), has appealed to traditional leaders to encourage their people to enroll on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to benefit from its packages.
He said the traditional rulers had the authority to speak and their people would listen and act hence the need for them to support the drive to get more people to sign onto the scheme to achieve its target of registering at least 20 million people by the end of 2023.
He observed that the Upper West Region was one of the regions that had high numbers of people registered on the scheme and that it was the blessing and support of the chiefs that enabled the region to attain that success.
Dr. Okoe-Boye made the appeal when he called on the Paramount Chief of the Wala Traditional Area, Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV in Wa and the Chief of Issa in Issa as part of his working visit to the region.
Dr. Okoe-Boye said that there was no need for anybody to pay for some healthcare services in the country, which ought to be borne by the government.
He indicated that money should not be a reason for anyone not to be on the scheme, considering the minimal subscription and annual renewal fees of GH₵8.00 or GH₵28.00 as compared to the amount of money they required to get a folder at the hospital without an active NHIS card.
He stated that the efficient operation of a health facility depended on a robust NHIS service hence the need for all Ghanaians to enroll on the scheme.
The NHIA CEO also inspected construction works on the NHIA offices in Issa in the DBI District and Lawra in the Lawra Municipality, which were about 80 per cent complete.
“This year I want to celebrate the Damba festival with Wa Naa and all the people of the Upper West Region, so hopefully by the time I come for the festival we will come here and commission it, so what that means is that we have just about three months to finish this,” Dr. Okoe-Boye said.
Mr Seidu Fuseini, the Site Supervisor of the project at Issa, who conducted the NHIA team around the project, assured the CEO that it would be completed in a month.
Naa Pelpuo commended the NHIA CEO for his contribution to moving the country out of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time he was a Deputy Minister of Health.
While congratulating him on his appointment as the NHIA CEO, the revered chief expressed hope that he would exhibit quality leadership for the success of the scheme.
“I believe that with the level of astuteness that you held the Deputy Minister position of Ghana Health Service, I have no doubt that the National Health Insurance Authority will succeed under your care”, he said.
Naa Pelpuo expressed concern about the lack of a befitting office for the Authority in the municipality and had made available a parcel of land for an office building.
Wa Naa Pelpuo conferred a “Laanfie Naa” (Chief of Health) chieftaincy title on Dr. Okoe-Boye in recognition of his contribution to improving the health sector of the country.
