THE National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has called for public support in its operations to ensure that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) introduced to provide equitable health care for the people is sustained.
It said without preventing others from scrutinising the activities of the authority, it would serve a good cause if efforts were made to get to the right information for public consumption.
The call was made by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NHIA, Mr Sylvester Mensah, at press conference organised by the authority to react to some media reports on the operations of the scheme.
An Accra-based newspaper has, since January 26, 2010, come out with a series of allegations against the NHIA. Among them are allegations of reckless use of public funds to purchase vehicles, a trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the CEO and other officials and the hiring of a duty post accommodation for the CEO.
Mr Mensah said it would have been better if the paper had found it necessary to get his side of the story before going public, adding that nothing had been done without the approval of the NHIA board.
He stressed that the process for getting many of the things that the paper accused him of began before he assumed office.
He gave the assurance that the NHIA would ensure that the right things were done to protect the taxpayer’s money and stressed that the authority was working hard to reduce its budget for the year.
He said the authority had uncovered some serious leakage in the operations of some of the schemes through some clinical auditing it had embarked on and stressed that all bad nuts in the system would be exposed and dealt with according to the law.
In a statement which was read earlier, the acting Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Mr Eric Ametor-Quarmyne, said all the 145 schemes in the country had started recording tremendous changes in both their operational and financial management.
He explained the circumstances under which a number of vehicles had been purchased for use by officials of both the NHIA and the various schemes, adding that the arrangement had rather relieved the authority of a huge financial burden, compared to the general practice in the civil and public services.
Mr Ametor-Quarmyne touched on the trip to the UAE by the CEO of the NHIA and other high-ranking public officials, including Members of Parliament, NHIA board members and officials of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), and said the delegation had attended an important international health conference which would benefit the country.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Health status and link with access to health service
The 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health survey (GDHS) shows that out of every 100 children born alive, four die before they are one year old.
That statistics, compared to the situation in the developed world where only one child die out of every 100 children born alive, is said to be on the high side.
However, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Health Services, Professor Irene Agyepong Amarteyfio, has indicated that this is an improvement on the rates of about six deaths out of every 100 in 2003 and seven every 100 in 1993 as depicted in various surveys.
Writing under the topic, “Health status and health service access”, which was contained in a document presented to the Daily Graphic, Professor Agyepong Amarteyfio, however, explained that “we are still a long way from where we want to be”.
She said unlike in Ghana where about four children died before they attained one year, less than one child died before the first year of life for every 100 children born alive in the developed world.
She reiterated that malaria remained the most frequently reported cause of illness and a major cause of childhood deaths. She pointed out that other frequently reported diseases which affected Ghanaians were diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, skin diseases, pregnancy-related complications, anaemia and malnutrition.
In addition, she said the most common chronic diseases in Ghana were hypertension and diabetes and pointed out that one of the objectives of Ghana’s health sector reforms initiated in 1997 was to increase geographical access to basic clinical and public health services.
Touching on access to health care, she said in the 2003 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) survey, access to clinical services was defined as living within any kind of modern health facility that could be reached within 30 minutes.
She stated that between the 1997 and 2003 CWIQ survey, the percentage of people stating that they had access to a health facility increased from 37 per cent to 58 per cent, while those reporting themselves as sick or injured in the four weeks before the survey and needing clinical services remained constant at 18 per cent.
Professor Agyepong Amarteyfio indicated that the reported use of care fell from 22 per cent in the 1997 survey to 18 per cent in the 2003 survey, raising questions as to whether quality of care and ability to pay may sometimes be more important barriers than geographic access.
That statistics, compared to the situation in the developed world where only one child die out of every 100 children born alive, is said to be on the high side.
However, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Health Services, Professor Irene Agyepong Amarteyfio, has indicated that this is an improvement on the rates of about six deaths out of every 100 in 2003 and seven every 100 in 1993 as depicted in various surveys.
Writing under the topic, “Health status and health service access”, which was contained in a document presented to the Daily Graphic, Professor Agyepong Amarteyfio, however, explained that “we are still a long way from where we want to be”.
She said unlike in Ghana where about four children died before they attained one year, less than one child died before the first year of life for every 100 children born alive in the developed world.
She reiterated that malaria remained the most frequently reported cause of illness and a major cause of childhood deaths. She pointed out that other frequently reported diseases which affected Ghanaians were diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, skin diseases, pregnancy-related complications, anaemia and malnutrition.
In addition, she said the most common chronic diseases in Ghana were hypertension and diabetes and pointed out that one of the objectives of Ghana’s health sector reforms initiated in 1997 was to increase geographical access to basic clinical and public health services.
Touching on access to health care, she said in the 2003 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) survey, access to clinical services was defined as living within any kind of modern health facility that could be reached within 30 minutes.
She stated that between the 1997 and 2003 CWIQ survey, the percentage of people stating that they had access to a health facility increased from 37 per cent to 58 per cent, while those reporting themselves as sick or injured in the four weeks before the survey and needing clinical services remained constant at 18 per cent.
Professor Agyepong Amarteyfio indicated that the reported use of care fell from 22 per cent in the 1997 survey to 18 per cent in the 2003 survey, raising questions as to whether quality of care and ability to pay may sometimes be more important barriers than geographic access.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Check reckless use of the title Dr
THE Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has expressed concern over the reckless use of the title “Dr” by some individuals who make dubious claims through medical and drug advertisements.
The association has, therefore, called on the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Medical and Dental Council (MDC), the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and the National Media Commission (NMC) to work together to enforce laws regulating the use of the title and also ban the unregulated advertisement of medicines and drugs in the print and the electronic media.
At its National Executive Council meeting held in Takoradi from January 29 to 31, 2010, the GMA President, Dr Emmanuel Adom A. Winful, said the practice was causing grave health problems and must be stopped.
He called on the general public to be alert and mindful of some of the false claims contained in some of those advertisements and not fall victim to them.
Dr Winful said the problems emanated from the use of the title and the advertisements which some members of the public usually fell victim to.
He also called on the media to save the country by making sure that the kind of information passing through their mode of transmission would serve the interest of the public.
Some of the advertisements, according to the GMA President, were just to satisfy the profit motive of whoever put them out, not the interest of the public, as the claims were false and dubious.
He pointed out that the GMA acknowledged the fact that the title “Dr” could be used in the field of academia, not for herbalists to become medical doctors just because they had put some herbs together to cure diseases.
“If one uses herbs to cure an ailment, it is fine with the GMA. That person qualifies as a herbalist but not a medical doctor,” he stressed.
He said to be a doctor, one had to go through the requisite training and certification and be properly inducted.
He said it was worrying for people providing herbal service to call themselves “Dr”, adding that the practice was misleading and unacceptable.
In a statement issued after the NEC meeting, the GMA touched on the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP), saying that it endorsed the decision of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to roll out a public education programme to serve as a means to facilitate the implementation of the policy.
“There is generally limited public education with regard to the SSPP, as a result of which much of the public discourse exposes serious misconceptions and sometimes unrealistic expectations about the SSPP,” the GMA stressed.
The association touched on gross distortions in the existing relativities in the health sector in the draft consultant’s document on the SSPP which it said had been acknowledged by both the MoH and the Fair Wages Commission and, therefore, needed to be corrected before its implementation.
In addition, the GMA reminded the MoH that it was more than a year since an agreement was signed between the ministry and the association in which the ministry agreed to pay 10 per cent on Call Duty Facilitation Allowance to medical practitioners but the agreement was yet to be fulfilled.
The association, therefore, called on the MoH to provide the Ministry of Finance with all the needed data, as a matter of urgency, to avoid further delay in the implementation of the agreement.
In the statement, the GMA complained about the undue delay in the reconstitution of the dissolved Medical and Dental Council (MDC) and called on the government to reconstitute and inaugurate a new council as soon as possible.
The association has, therefore, called on the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Medical and Dental Council (MDC), the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and the National Media Commission (NMC) to work together to enforce laws regulating the use of the title and also ban the unregulated advertisement of medicines and drugs in the print and the electronic media.
At its National Executive Council meeting held in Takoradi from January 29 to 31, 2010, the GMA President, Dr Emmanuel Adom A. Winful, said the practice was causing grave health problems and must be stopped.
He called on the general public to be alert and mindful of some of the false claims contained in some of those advertisements and not fall victim to them.
Dr Winful said the problems emanated from the use of the title and the advertisements which some members of the public usually fell victim to.
He also called on the media to save the country by making sure that the kind of information passing through their mode of transmission would serve the interest of the public.
Some of the advertisements, according to the GMA President, were just to satisfy the profit motive of whoever put them out, not the interest of the public, as the claims were false and dubious.
He pointed out that the GMA acknowledged the fact that the title “Dr” could be used in the field of academia, not for herbalists to become medical doctors just because they had put some herbs together to cure diseases.
“If one uses herbs to cure an ailment, it is fine with the GMA. That person qualifies as a herbalist but not a medical doctor,” he stressed.
He said to be a doctor, one had to go through the requisite training and certification and be properly inducted.
He said it was worrying for people providing herbal service to call themselves “Dr”, adding that the practice was misleading and unacceptable.
In a statement issued after the NEC meeting, the GMA touched on the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP), saying that it endorsed the decision of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to roll out a public education programme to serve as a means to facilitate the implementation of the policy.
“There is generally limited public education with regard to the SSPP, as a result of which much of the public discourse exposes serious misconceptions and sometimes unrealistic expectations about the SSPP,” the GMA stressed.
The association touched on gross distortions in the existing relativities in the health sector in the draft consultant’s document on the SSPP which it said had been acknowledged by both the MoH and the Fair Wages Commission and, therefore, needed to be corrected before its implementation.
In addition, the GMA reminded the MoH that it was more than a year since an agreement was signed between the ministry and the association in which the ministry agreed to pay 10 per cent on Call Duty Facilitation Allowance to medical practitioners but the agreement was yet to be fulfilled.
The association, therefore, called on the MoH to provide the Ministry of Finance with all the needed data, as a matter of urgency, to avoid further delay in the implementation of the agreement.
In the statement, the GMA complained about the undue delay in the reconstitution of the dissolved Medical and Dental Council (MDC) and called on the government to reconstitute and inaugurate a new council as soon as possible.
Burial of Dan Lartey on Feb 6.
The burial service of the late Dan Lartey will be held at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra, in the morning of Saturday, February 6, 2010.
The mortal remains of the veteran politician would be interned at the Osu Cemetery, after which the public will have the opportunity to mourn with the bereaved family in their house at Osu, near Photo flash, behind papaye fast food.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at the weekend the eldest son of the deceased, Mr Henry Lartey, said the government had offered to sponsor the burial and funeral rites of the departed statesman.
He said to organise a befitting ceremony for the late elderly politician, the bereaved family and officials of the state protocol department had begun discussions on how best to get things done.
Mr Lartey said as part of the rites, there would be wake on Friday at the deceased’s Citadel House, around first light at Kaneshie.
He added that on Sunday, February 7, 2010, a thanksgiving service would be held in memory of the late Mr Lartey at the Osu Barnabas Anglican Church, where Mr Lartey used to worship.
The businessman and politician passed away in his sleep at the age of 83, on Monday, December 28, 2009. He left behind an 87-year-old wife, Sarah, and eight children, comprising five men and three women.
A former publisher and labour unionist, Dan Lartey’s name became a household one following his 2004 mantra of “Domestication”, his political philosophy of self- reliance, rather than depending on foreign aid and investment.
After his death was announced, hundreds of Ghanaians drove to his home to console his family. Among them were former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, the 2008 presidential candidate of the National Patriotic Party(NPP), Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Woode.
Others were the Chairman and General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei and Mr Johnson Aseidu Nketia respectively, the Chairman of the NPP, Mr Peter Mac- Manu, the 2008 presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and his running mate, Dr Abu Sakara, Dr Obed Asamoah, the founder of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and the Archbishop of the Church of Province of West Africa and the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Accra, Most Rev Doc Justice Akrofi, and other distinguished personalities.
The mortal remains of the veteran politician would be interned at the Osu Cemetery, after which the public will have the opportunity to mourn with the bereaved family in their house at Osu, near Photo flash, behind papaye fast food.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at the weekend the eldest son of the deceased, Mr Henry Lartey, said the government had offered to sponsor the burial and funeral rites of the departed statesman.
He said to organise a befitting ceremony for the late elderly politician, the bereaved family and officials of the state protocol department had begun discussions on how best to get things done.
Mr Lartey said as part of the rites, there would be wake on Friday at the deceased’s Citadel House, around first light at Kaneshie.
He added that on Sunday, February 7, 2010, a thanksgiving service would be held in memory of the late Mr Lartey at the Osu Barnabas Anglican Church, where Mr Lartey used to worship.
The businessman and politician passed away in his sleep at the age of 83, on Monday, December 28, 2009. He left behind an 87-year-old wife, Sarah, and eight children, comprising five men and three women.
A former publisher and labour unionist, Dan Lartey’s name became a household one following his 2004 mantra of “Domestication”, his political philosophy of self- reliance, rather than depending on foreign aid and investment.
After his death was announced, hundreds of Ghanaians drove to his home to console his family. Among them were former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, the 2008 presidential candidate of the National Patriotic Party(NPP), Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Woode.
Others were the Chairman and General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Kwabena Adjei and Mr Johnson Aseidu Nketia respectively, the Chairman of the NPP, Mr Peter Mac- Manu, the 2008 presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and his running mate, Dr Abu Sakara, Dr Obed Asamoah, the founder of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and the Archbishop of the Church of Province of West Africa and the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Accra, Most Rev Doc Justice Akrofi, and other distinguished personalities.
Ghana listed for H1N1 vaccine (Spread)
Monday, Feb. 1, 2010
GHANA has been listed as one of the countries selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to receive the H1N1 vaccine.
The first batch of 500,000 doses of the vaccine is expected to be released within the first quarter of this year, to health workers and the security agencies.
Under the programme, the WHO head office in Geneva will provide vaccines and devices to the tune of $3.8 million while the Government of Ghana is expected to mobilise a little over $1 million with the assistance from its health partners.
A budget of $4,820,408 is to cover activities during the first phase of the programme.
This was made known by the acting Head of Disease Surveillance of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Mr Michael Adjabeng, at a media/information officers workshop on Pandemic Influenza Communication in Accra last Friday.
Mr Adjabeng said priority would be given to health workers and national security personnel because they were usually the ones who got into contact with infected people if there was an outbreak.
He said there would be press briefings on the pandemic influenza vaccination programme at the appropriate time, adding that health workers would be informed through the administrative heads of various institutions and the security personnel through their administrative set-ups.
Mr Adjabeng said apart from health workers and the security personnel, other groups of people who would be taken care of were pregnant women and other high risk people who would be informed through the local media, antenatal clinics and at religious meetings.
“Special messages on the pandemic influenza, the place and time for the vaccination will be designed for the media,” Mr Adjabeng stressed.
He said between November 23 and November 27, 2009 a workshop was organised by WHO on plans to deploy the vaccines for Anglophone countries where member states were made to produce draft plans.
On the spread of the H1N1 in Ghana, Mr Adjabeng said 55 (5.6 per cent) cases had been confirmed out of 979 samples investigated from August 5, 2009 to January 14, 2010 with no death so far recorded.
He said the Central, Volta, Upper East and Brong Ahafo regions were yet to report any cases.
The Deputy Chief Disaster Control Officer of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ms Ruth Arthur, said guided by experience in 2005 when the Avian Influenza outbreak occurred, the Avian Influenza Working Group, (AIWG), a technical and multi-sectoral committee, became the National Technical Co-ordinating Committee.
Ms Arthur, who was speaking on National Preparedness/Societal Response to H1N1 influenza in Ghana, said the technical committee had a mandate to “plan and execute” technical preparedness and response actions for the pandemic.
Ms Arthur, who is also the Desk Officer for Disease and Epidemic Disasters, called for national awareness on what had to be done to prevent the spread of the pandemic, since in the absence of early and effective planning, Ghana could face wider social and economic disruption due to high rate of absenteeism caused by a major outbreak with consequent financial implications.
She said that could bring about closure of schools, as well as workplaces, prohibition of mass gatherings such as sporting events, religious services and other social events.
Other challenges which include market closures, disruption in the provision of essential public services such as food/water/energy, public transport, air travel, banking and telecommunications services could break down due to high rate of infection among employees.
An official of the Health Promotion Unit of the GHS, Alhaji Abubakar Sufyan, urged the media to support the health sector in sensitising the public to the H1N1.
He said the media were also to help win support of policy makers for the control of the pandemic and also place issues of the pandemic high on the public agenda.
GHANA has been listed as one of the countries selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to receive the H1N1 vaccine.
The first batch of 500,000 doses of the vaccine is expected to be released within the first quarter of this year, to health workers and the security agencies.
Under the programme, the WHO head office in Geneva will provide vaccines and devices to the tune of $3.8 million while the Government of Ghana is expected to mobilise a little over $1 million with the assistance from its health partners.
A budget of $4,820,408 is to cover activities during the first phase of the programme.
This was made known by the acting Head of Disease Surveillance of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Mr Michael Adjabeng, at a media/information officers workshop on Pandemic Influenza Communication in Accra last Friday.
Mr Adjabeng said priority would be given to health workers and national security personnel because they were usually the ones who got into contact with infected people if there was an outbreak.
He said there would be press briefings on the pandemic influenza vaccination programme at the appropriate time, adding that health workers would be informed through the administrative heads of various institutions and the security personnel through their administrative set-ups.
Mr Adjabeng said apart from health workers and the security personnel, other groups of people who would be taken care of were pregnant women and other high risk people who would be informed through the local media, antenatal clinics and at religious meetings.
“Special messages on the pandemic influenza, the place and time for the vaccination will be designed for the media,” Mr Adjabeng stressed.
He said between November 23 and November 27, 2009 a workshop was organised by WHO on plans to deploy the vaccines for Anglophone countries where member states were made to produce draft plans.
On the spread of the H1N1 in Ghana, Mr Adjabeng said 55 (5.6 per cent) cases had been confirmed out of 979 samples investigated from August 5, 2009 to January 14, 2010 with no death so far recorded.
He said the Central, Volta, Upper East and Brong Ahafo regions were yet to report any cases.
The Deputy Chief Disaster Control Officer of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ms Ruth Arthur, said guided by experience in 2005 when the Avian Influenza outbreak occurred, the Avian Influenza Working Group, (AIWG), a technical and multi-sectoral committee, became the National Technical Co-ordinating Committee.
Ms Arthur, who was speaking on National Preparedness/Societal Response to H1N1 influenza in Ghana, said the technical committee had a mandate to “plan and execute” technical preparedness and response actions for the pandemic.
Ms Arthur, who is also the Desk Officer for Disease and Epidemic Disasters, called for national awareness on what had to be done to prevent the spread of the pandemic, since in the absence of early and effective planning, Ghana could face wider social and economic disruption due to high rate of absenteeism caused by a major outbreak with consequent financial implications.
She said that could bring about closure of schools, as well as workplaces, prohibition of mass gatherings such as sporting events, religious services and other social events.
Other challenges which include market closures, disruption in the provision of essential public services such as food/water/energy, public transport, air travel, banking and telecommunications services could break down due to high rate of infection among employees.
An official of the Health Promotion Unit of the GHS, Alhaji Abubakar Sufyan, urged the media to support the health sector in sensitising the public to the H1N1.
He said the media were also to help win support of policy makers for the control of the pandemic and also place issues of the pandemic high on the public agenda.
Monday, February 1, 2010
NHIA clarifies position
THE National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has reacted to a Daily Searchlight front page story captioned “ RAPE AT NHIS” in the Tuesday, January 26, 2010 issue, describing “it as full of falsehood, half truths and malice”.
It said contrary to the newspaper’s report that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) had purchased a number of vehicles for his personal use, the authority had purchased only one Nissan Teana salon car for use by the CEO as was the normal practice in the Public Service
A statement signed by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the NHIA, Mr Eric Ametor-Quarmyne, said it was important for the authority to offer some clarification in the light of the fact that the NHIA was a public institution.
“The story, as published by the Daily Searchlight, was full of falsehood, half truths and malice. It is important that a public institution such as the National Health Insurance Authority should be very much aware of its expenditures and we can assure the good people of Ghana that the present management under Mr Sylvester Mensah has taken steps to safeguard the interest of the Ghanaian taxpayer,” it stated.
The statement said regarding the subject of the purchase of vehicles by the Authority, the management of the authority was happy to share information on its vehicle acquisition with the public to whom the Authority, as a public institution, was ultimately responsible.
It pointed out that beginning from 2009 to date, the NHIA had acquired the following vehicles for use by not only its head office staff, or its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), but also for the operations of some of the 145 Schemes across the country: Five slightly used Nissan Hard Body pickups acquired from National Identification Authority (NIA), three slightly used Nissan Patrol four-wheel drive vehicles for use by NHIS Schemes in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, five new Nissan Navara pick-up vehicles acquired for distribution to NHIS Schemes which have no vehicles for their operations and for Head Office use.
Their distribution, according to the statement, was as follows: Head Office -two, Volta Region-one, Ashanti Region-one, and Brong Ahafo Region-one.
In addition it said one Toyota Land Cruiser four-wheel drive was allocated to the Head Office of NHIA for trekking purposes.
It pointed out that the vehicles acquired from the NIA were used for only about one year and that due to the drastic reduction in its workload, the vehicles had become redundant.
“The arrangement was a win-win situation for both the National Health Insurance Authority and National Identification Authority since it enabled the NHIA to purchase the vehicles at discounted rates, thus making appreciable savings, while the National Identification Authority was able to recoup some of its expenditures on vehicles, which otherwise would have been locked up in idle vehicles.
The NHIA provides the 145 Schemes that are presently operating in the country, the necessary logistics including vehicles as and when required”, it pointed out.
The statement said with regard to vehicles for staff of the NHIA, the NHIA would like to explain that since its inception in 2004, its administration had had a policy of not purchasing vehicles for its staff except the CEO, but instituted a revolving fund from which staff could access loans to purchase their own vehicles.
It is important to note that while employees have to pay the loans with interest and with no chance of defaulting, because the loans plus interest are deducted at source, the staff use these vehicles to perform official duties and bear all maintenance costs exclusively themselves.
“It is clear from the above that had the Daily Searchlight taken a little time as a credible newspaper would have done to wait for the information it had attempted to source from the NHIA, it would have ended up praising the NHIA for its meticulous use of public resources entrusted to it for the public good,” the statement stressed.
The NHIA said its doors were open to all media houses to seek clarifications on any matters of public concern or interest and added that the management of the NHIA was committed to transparency and accountability in its operations and saw the media as partners in the huge tasks ahead of the Authority to bring to reality President J. E. A. Mills’s one-time premium payment policy direction of the National Health Insurance Scheme.
It said contrary to the newspaper’s report that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) had purchased a number of vehicles for his personal use, the authority had purchased only one Nissan Teana salon car for use by the CEO as was the normal practice in the Public Service
A statement signed by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the NHIA, Mr Eric Ametor-Quarmyne, said it was important for the authority to offer some clarification in the light of the fact that the NHIA was a public institution.
“The story, as published by the Daily Searchlight, was full of falsehood, half truths and malice. It is important that a public institution such as the National Health Insurance Authority should be very much aware of its expenditures and we can assure the good people of Ghana that the present management under Mr Sylvester Mensah has taken steps to safeguard the interest of the Ghanaian taxpayer,” it stated.
The statement said regarding the subject of the purchase of vehicles by the Authority, the management of the authority was happy to share information on its vehicle acquisition with the public to whom the Authority, as a public institution, was ultimately responsible.
It pointed out that beginning from 2009 to date, the NHIA had acquired the following vehicles for use by not only its head office staff, or its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), but also for the operations of some of the 145 Schemes across the country: Five slightly used Nissan Hard Body pickups acquired from National Identification Authority (NIA), three slightly used Nissan Patrol four-wheel drive vehicles for use by NHIS Schemes in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, five new Nissan Navara pick-up vehicles acquired for distribution to NHIS Schemes which have no vehicles for their operations and for Head Office use.
Their distribution, according to the statement, was as follows: Head Office -two, Volta Region-one, Ashanti Region-one, and Brong Ahafo Region-one.
In addition it said one Toyota Land Cruiser four-wheel drive was allocated to the Head Office of NHIA for trekking purposes.
It pointed out that the vehicles acquired from the NIA were used for only about one year and that due to the drastic reduction in its workload, the vehicles had become redundant.
“The arrangement was a win-win situation for both the National Health Insurance Authority and National Identification Authority since it enabled the NHIA to purchase the vehicles at discounted rates, thus making appreciable savings, while the National Identification Authority was able to recoup some of its expenditures on vehicles, which otherwise would have been locked up in idle vehicles.
The NHIA provides the 145 Schemes that are presently operating in the country, the necessary logistics including vehicles as and when required”, it pointed out.
The statement said with regard to vehicles for staff of the NHIA, the NHIA would like to explain that since its inception in 2004, its administration had had a policy of not purchasing vehicles for its staff except the CEO, but instituted a revolving fund from which staff could access loans to purchase their own vehicles.
It is important to note that while employees have to pay the loans with interest and with no chance of defaulting, because the loans plus interest are deducted at source, the staff use these vehicles to perform official duties and bear all maintenance costs exclusively themselves.
“It is clear from the above that had the Daily Searchlight taken a little time as a credible newspaper would have done to wait for the information it had attempted to source from the NHIA, it would have ended up praising the NHIA for its meticulous use of public resources entrusted to it for the public good,” the statement stressed.
The NHIA said its doors were open to all media houses to seek clarifications on any matters of public concern or interest and added that the management of the NHIA was committed to transparency and accountability in its operations and saw the media as partners in the huge tasks ahead of the Authority to bring to reality President J. E. A. Mills’s one-time premium payment policy direction of the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Ghana, EU assess impact of partnership plan on timber
Sat. January 30, 2010
GHANA and the European Union (EU) yesterday held their first joint monitoring and review meeting in Accra to assess the impact of the Ghana-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Ghana’s timber industry.
The agenda for the meeting included: Rules of the procedure; Ghana and EU synopsis of progress since initialling; Plan of action for 2010; Aide memoir and also when to have the next joint monitoring and review meeting.
Ghana, being a major exporter of timber, entered into a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) negotiations with the European Union (EU) on timber trade in December, 2006.
The VPA is a set of standards and guidelines intended for proper forest governance and timber harvest in Ghana with the view to ensuring that only legal timber is exported from Ghana into the EU.
The VPA is a EU initiative as part of its Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Action Plan (FLEGTAP) launched in 2003.
Parties in the negotiations engaged in wide consultations with all stakeholders both locally and abroad on the five main VPA elements; definition of legal timber, legality assurance scheme (LAS), restructuring of the local timber industry, the domestic timber market and the impact assessment of the VPA.
Opening the meeting, Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, said the country had the political support to ensure that guidelines as provided by the EU were followed.
Alhaji Dauda noted that by embarking on a number of reforms which had been introduced under the VPA, Ghana would sustain the domestic timber industry.
He pointed out that to ensure the sustenance and increase of the country’s resource base, the country was embarking on vigorous plantation programme, as well as to ensure the supply of legal timber products to the EU market.
For his part, the head of the EU delegation to the meeting, Mr Luis Reira Figueras, said the EU was aware of Ghana’s commitment in terms of the objectives of the agreement and took the opportunity to commend Alhaji Dauda for his personal devotion to ensure that the desired objective was achieved.
He observed that Ghana, by entering into the agreement, had made it a point to reform its forest sector, adding that the EU was prepared to support the country in that direction.
Mr Figueras also commended the Ghana government for the involvement of the private sector, adding that it would help the programme to succeed.
In an interview, the Co-ordinator of the VPA in Ghana, Mr Chris Beeko, said one of the objectives of the agreement was to enable Ghana to continue to export its timber to the EU.
He also stated that as part of the agreement, the EU supported Ghana in the area of financial and technical assistance to ensure that the guidelines were followed to get certified timber to the EU market.
GHANA and the European Union (EU) yesterday held their first joint monitoring and review meeting in Accra to assess the impact of the Ghana-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Ghana’s timber industry.
The agenda for the meeting included: Rules of the procedure; Ghana and EU synopsis of progress since initialling; Plan of action for 2010; Aide memoir and also when to have the next joint monitoring and review meeting.
Ghana, being a major exporter of timber, entered into a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) negotiations with the European Union (EU) on timber trade in December, 2006.
The VPA is a set of standards and guidelines intended for proper forest governance and timber harvest in Ghana with the view to ensuring that only legal timber is exported from Ghana into the EU.
The VPA is a EU initiative as part of its Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Action Plan (FLEGTAP) launched in 2003.
Parties in the negotiations engaged in wide consultations with all stakeholders both locally and abroad on the five main VPA elements; definition of legal timber, legality assurance scheme (LAS), restructuring of the local timber industry, the domestic timber market and the impact assessment of the VPA.
Opening the meeting, Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, said the country had the political support to ensure that guidelines as provided by the EU were followed.
Alhaji Dauda noted that by embarking on a number of reforms which had been introduced under the VPA, Ghana would sustain the domestic timber industry.
He pointed out that to ensure the sustenance and increase of the country’s resource base, the country was embarking on vigorous plantation programme, as well as to ensure the supply of legal timber products to the EU market.
For his part, the head of the EU delegation to the meeting, Mr Luis Reira Figueras, said the EU was aware of Ghana’s commitment in terms of the objectives of the agreement and took the opportunity to commend Alhaji Dauda for his personal devotion to ensure that the desired objective was achieved.
He observed that Ghana, by entering into the agreement, had made it a point to reform its forest sector, adding that the EU was prepared to support the country in that direction.
Mr Figueras also commended the Ghana government for the involvement of the private sector, adding that it would help the programme to succeed.
In an interview, the Co-ordinator of the VPA in Ghana, Mr Chris Beeko, said one of the objectives of the agreement was to enable Ghana to continue to export its timber to the EU.
He also stated that as part of the agreement, the EU supported Ghana in the area of financial and technical assistance to ensure that the guidelines were followed to get certified timber to the EU market.
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