Health Minister Accuses Health Facilities of Extortion, Destroying National Health Insurance Scheme

• Health minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu has lamented the creeping cash and carry system at some health facilities in Ghana
• He singled out Ridge Hospital and the University of Ghana Medical Centre as two places where he had been compelled to pay cash even though he has an NHIS card
• Agyeman Manu made the comments when meet stakeholders in the health sector at a conference held in Kumasi from April 18 to April 21, 2023

Health minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu has accused health facilities of extorting money from Ghanaians by surreptitiously compelling patients to pay cash for health services and rejecting the NHIS card.

The minister disclosed that he has experienced first-hand how some health facilities refuse to treat Ghanaians who present the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card.

"I pay when I go to Ridge Hospital. I pay when I go to UGMC [ University of Ghana Medical Centre]. I don’t even present my insurance card," he said on Tuesday April 18, 2023.

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According to a Ghanaweb report, the minister made the comments while addressing the Ghana Health Insurance Service Senior Managers and other stakeholders in the health sector

He told the senior managers that the poor treatment meted out to patients who present the NHIS card does not encourage the use of the card.

“From the end-user point of view, it looks like the health insurance is not working. I am a patient and I know what it is,” he added.

According to him, the unofficial rejection of the NHIS card and the overpriced cash services at Ridge Hospital and the UGMC are clear examples of extortion at these facilities.

The meeting with the stakeholders in the health sector was held in Kumasi.

Private investors in the health sector and representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO) were also at the meeting.

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The four-day conference started on April 18, 2023, and reviewed the major issues affecting quality healthcare delivery in Ghana.

The health minister spoke on the theme, "Enhancing Primary Healthcare Approaches Towards Achieving Universal Health Coverage”.

Agyeman Manu urged the stakeholders in the health sector to strive for excellence in their service delivery.

Fake medications administered at hospitals

At the same event, the minister disclosed that he has been briefed that some public health facilities were administering fake medications to patients.

He said the FDA was on the case and would soon take action.

Akufo-Addo justifies decision to allow malaria vaccine trials on Ghanaian children

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in a separate story that Nana Akufo-Addo has said the decision to allow Ghana to become the first country to trial the new malaria vaccine on a large scale is well-informed.

Akufo-Addo explained on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, that the groundbreaking malaria vaccines are safe and have passed many tests and reviews.

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He made the comments when he inaugurated a vaccine manufacturing facility in Accra.

Source: YEN.com.gh