The French Government has initiated moves to have Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) replicated in Francophone African countries, the Chief Executive of the scheme, Mr Ras Boateng, has said.

He said although the scheme began not long ago and faced a few difficulties, it had gained worldwide acclamation and recognition as one of the best, hence the measure by France.

Mr Boateng was speaking at a ceremony where the United States branch of the Church of Pentecost presented a cheque for $20,000 to the NHIS to cover the premium of poor and vulnerable Ghanaians who could not afford to pay out of their own resources.

The amount is the single largest donation to the secretariat.

The church presented the cheque as a result of a letter written to them by the NHIS secretariat soliciting funds to assist financially handicapped individuals to access health services.

The Church of Pentecost has 100 branches in the US and is represented in 37 states. Members in all branches contributed towards the donation.

Mr Boateng said Ghana was building a health insurance system that was cheap for the individual and covered all citizens and added that even in the advanced countries such as the US, the system was not cheap and did not benefit all citizens.

He said under a new programme, every pregnant female was to enrol with the various schemes at no cost to them and to access health care free of charge for 12 months.

He stated that every child under five years also accessed health care free and added that very soon all children below the age of 18 would access health care free.

He said it would take about two or three years more for Ghanaians to appreciate that the NHIS was a very good programme that must be supported by all.

As regards donations from various organisations to the NHIS, Mr Boateng said the secretariat did not dump the moneys into the larger government fund but used them according to the dictates of the donors and said a formula would be worked out to use the $20,000 to pay the premiums of the poor in every region of the country.

Apostle Albert Amoah, Head of the Church in the USA, said the church deemed it a responsibility to support any government in the country that initiated good programmes for the benefit of Ghanaians and added that the donation was in that direction.

He said in the US, where he lives, a family of four paid a total premium of $1,200 per month while every visit to the hospital attracted between $15 to $50, which was paid outside the premium.

“Items such as reading glasses are not covered by insurance, so if in Ghana, we are required to pay the equivalent of about $20 a year, I think we should all embrace the system,” he said.

He said to enable Ghanaians to participate fully in the programme, there was the need for them to feel that it was “people-owned” and not “government-owned”.