Download PDF - Institute of Economic Affairs Ghana

healthcare provider emigration by increasing the training of these
professionals and removing the push factors in Ghana that
synergise with the “pull factors” to send them abroad.
The National Health Insurance Scheme has started with some
“teething” problems. We will review its operations to date with a
view to strengthening and expanding it. But the other half of the
scheme is Health Maintenance Organisation. This scheme will be
to keep Ghanaians healthy so that the Health Insurance is not overutilised
to bankruptcy. When you get vehicle insurance, you do
not stop maintaining your car so that you can get an accident and
then claim insurance.
When you buy your car, you make sure that the parts are working,
you make sure that the headlight is working. Similarly, this
national health insurance scheme should be seen as one half being
the other half this health maintenance organisation and this will
incorporate all current public and preventive medicine
approaches such as immunisations, maternal and child health and
it is a scheme to actively promote health. Somebody with a BP of
210/160 is walking around oblivious. We will encourage yearly
physicals as part of this health promotion schemes so that silent
but killer diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cancer can be
detected. If you are a man of over 45 in this hall I will advise you to
go and get your prostrate examined because it is a common cause
of cancer.
Embedded in the Health Maintenance Organisation is a Medical
Intelligence Unit. This unit will have the responsibility to look
down the road of healthcare or national health and decide or
advice government on what is happening down the health road.
For example we all know (doctors in particular) that as our
lifestyles in Ghana change and we live like Western Europeans,
diabetes, hypertension, chronic heart diseases will all become a
problem.
What else will happen down the road This Medical Intelligence
Unit will have the responsibility to advise Government so that
Government doesn't wait till we have epidemic proportions of any
disease and then panics. Government can always plan ahead in
order to take care of the people's health and try to predict emerging
disease patterns. Health maintenance implies that our pregnant
women will be healthy to bring forth healthy babies with reduced
neonatal and infant mortality.
Maternal and Infant mortality will be tackled by co-ordinating
existing programmes and making them more efficient. The nation
has made a lot of efforts in this direction but synchronising and
avoiding duplication could make the taxpayer receive value for
money. The Ministry of Health must take the monitoring and
evaluation function more seriously while devolving
implementation of programmes to the District Assemblies. The
HMO Medical Intelligence Unit will also have epidemiological
data collection functions to warn the nation in advance as to the
trend to disease patterns so that preventive steps can be taken
ahead of epidemics.
Food security, housing and water are the backbone and the core of
our health policy. Low cost housing schemes will be developed in
partnership with private developers. In the area of food security,
even private operators like the Christian Friends of Democracy
need help to make Government's role less duress.
Trade
Unbridled and unfair competition and illicit trade hamper
Ghanaian operators. For example in the poultry sector, we all
know what happened when Parliament passed a law, a phone call
allegedly put the law on ice. PNC promises that we will extend the
school feeding programme by a piece of chicken locally grown.
9
10