The National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer for the December elections, President John Mahama, has said the next NDC administration after 2016, will push for the allocation of petroleum revenue for the funding of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
President Mahama said there is the need to rework the sustainability of the NHIS, hence the need to “look for new sources of funding for the National Health Insurance.”
Thus he said, “in the next four years, my proposal is that a percentage of the annual budget funding amount that comes from petroleum revenues should be allocated to the National Health Insurance Scheme.”Speaking at the Banquet Hall of the State House on Wednesday to highlight sections of the NDC manifesto ahead of the main launch this weekend in Sunyani, he also said this proposal will “provide the life for the scheme and make if more efficient.”
“We are taking out the fraud, we are introducing more computerisation, bringing in more claim centres and all that; and so it will make the scheme more efficient going into the future,” he added.
NDC will build 2 more Mental Health facilities
Also under health, President Mahama said the NDC government would prioritize mental healthcare and ensure the strict implementation of the Mental Health Act, 2012, act 846.”
One the things he proposed was to “move the Accra Psychiatric Hospital from its current location to Pantang, and develop the Pantang Mental Hospital into a first class mental health facility.”
The NDC will also build two more psychiatric hospitals in the Ashanti and Northern region, President Mahama added.
By: Delali Adogla-Bessa
