The Ghana Health Service, GHS through the Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme, NTDP, has organised a day sensitisation meeting to advocate the inclusion of Elephantiasis (3-LIFAN-TIE-SIS) patients in the free health insurance beneficiaries.
The meeting, held in Koforidua, came about after the NTDP piloted a successful advocacy intervention in the Upper East Region which provided information and education on lymphedema (LYM-FI-DEE-MA) patients entitlements and benefits package under the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS.
The Ghana Health Service and the American Leprosy Missions, therefore aim to replicate the successful implementation of the advocacy exercise in the remaining endemic regions of which Eastern Region is part.
The advocacy meeting brought together representatives from the National Health Insurance Authority, Social Welfare and Community Development, Media, Eastern Regional Coordinating Council, and the Disability Group.
Programme Manager of the Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme, Dr. Joseph Kwadwo Opare, said the Lymphatic Filariases (LYM-FA-TIC FILA-RIGH-ISIS) is a debilitating neglected tropical disease, which leads to gross disfigurement and eventual disability.
This, he said, the major challenge of people affected by the disease is lack of access to appropriate health services due to financial barriers.
The lymphatic filariases (LYM-FA-TIC FILA-RIGH-ISIS) affects the leg, hand, breast and the hydrocele. He said the primary goal of the Lymphatic Filariases elimination programme is to reduce the prevalence of NTDs in Ghana to the level that is no longer of public health significance by 2030.
Programme Manager of the American Leprosy Missions, Solomon Atinbire, said the meeting had clear goals which are inclusion of lymphedema patients to benefit from free health insurance scheme, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty programme and the three percent disability fund.
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Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has clarified that the recent announcement regarding the mandatory health insurance policy for non-Ghanaian resident visitors is a proposal the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and not a policy of government.
A statement released by the Ministry on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, said while the proposal aims to ensure that foreign nationals have access to healthcare during their stay in Ghana, it is important to note that it has not yet been discuss or approved by Cabinet. The Ministry is urging the public to disregard any misinformation that may suggest that the policy has been finalized and its mode of implementation settled.
At a media briefing last week on the modalities of the policy before its roll-out, Vice Chairman, Technical Working Group on the Visitors Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) and Member of the NHIA Board, Dr Isaac Morrison, said from July 1, 2024, non-resident visitors arriving in Ghana will be required to have a health insurance policy before entry into Ghana.
He said it was to ensure that all visitors have access to necessary healthcare services during their stay in Ghana. Dr Isaac Morrison, said the move had become necessary following lessons learnt from the COVID-19, where foreign nationals fell ill and the country had to take care of them as there was no insurance in place.
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But a statement released the Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, said Cabinet is yet to discuss or approve it. The Ministry assured the public that any policy and its implementation shall be thoroughly scrutinized and taken through all necessary protocols to establish its benefits for the people of Ghana before being settled on.
